Naruto wasn't shocked to wake up in his own bed. Despite having exhausted himself to the point of passing out, he still had the luxury of maintaining some level of awareness while inside his mindscape. He knew Jiraiya had been spying on him while he trained. It had become expected at this point. Whenever the Sannin was around the village he would often spend all his free time following Naruto like a bad stench that he couldn't shake. By this stage it was easily ignored, albeit a constant annoyance.

He was relieved to find his body held onto none of the pain and aches of his prior activity. The Kyuubi's chakra was gradually getting more in tune with his body. This time last year he would have been left recovering for nearly a week after attempting to pull more than a tails worth of chakra from the seal. It seemed the fox was right after all. The more he used, the stronger he was getting. Soon he would be able to use three tails, enough to ensure that the ANBU couldn't stop him anymore. If only things were that simple.

"Get up, kid," Jiraiya said. "I know you aren't asleep."

"What are you doing in my apartment," Naruto said coldly, his eyes opening into a glare at the man.

"I wasn't about to leave you laying in the forest of death."

"I would have been fine," he groaned, getting up from his bed before pausing suddenly and sniffing the air. "Someone was here."

Jiraiya chuckled. "That sense of smell you have never ceases to creep me out," he said. "But you and I both know that no one comes here anymore, Naruto. Not since Kakashi started keeping an eye on things."

Naruto inhaled deeply. "Kakashi was here too," he said. "With a girl…" that last part was said with less frustration and more curiosity, catching even Jiraiya off guard.

"You sure about that?" the Sannin asked.

"I need to talk to the Hokage."

"Actually…" Jiraiya interjected quickly. "That's why I'm here. The Hokage wanted me to pass along a message."

"He should have sent Kakashi," Naruto muttered.

"This is important, Naruto," Jiraiya said sternly. "Something has come up, and whether you like it or not, you have been selected to be Konoha's representative in the matter. Now, I understand your opinion on the village and its politics, but we need you to hear this out and do the right thing."

Naruto snarled at the Sannin. "You don't get to talk about doing the right thing," he growled out.

"Enough, Naruto! I don't care what you think of me. The Hokage is the one asking this of you. Either you listen and accept, or he will suspend your shinobi privileges."

Naruto bit his tongue at that statement. He wasn't an idiot. There was no way he could butt heads with the Hokage, or Jiraiya. Refusal to cooperate would only end to him being locked away with enough chakra restricting seals to ensure not even the Kyuubi could help him get out. He didn't have to like it, but for the time being it was easy to go along with the villages wishes whenever necessary. They were willing to turn a blind eye to a lot of things, but directly disobeying the Hokage was a stretch even for him.

"I'm listening."

"Suna has sent diplomats to negotiate a treaty with us," Jiraiya said.

"Is Gaara with them?" Naruto asked with the slightest hint of excitement.

"No. The jinchuuriki was not allowed to return until the treaty is solidified," Jiraiya explained. "But there is someone you will need to meet, and we need you to be nice."

Naruto frowned. "I won't like this, will I?" he asked, receiving no change of expression from the man. "Who?"

"The daughter of the Kazekage, Temari. I believe you saw her during the chunin exams."

"Why?"

Jiraiya took a deep breath. This was where things were really going to get difficult. "Because you will need to get to know her… personally."

"Is she a target?" Naruto asked. "Or someone close to her?"

"No, no… it's… well, look, it's complicated, and you aren't going to be happy about it, but trust me when I say this can work to your advantage," Jiraiya said. "Suna has offered her to Konoha as their half of a political marriage agreement, and Konoha… has chosen you as our half."

Naruto's eye twitched. "You know I hate your jokes."

"It's not a joke, Naruto. This is real. You were the one chosen to represent the village in this marriage."

"I refuse."

"You don't have a choice."

"I'll leave."

"I'll bring you back."

"I'll kill you."

"…"

"…"

"You hit your head, didn't you?" Jiraiya asked jokingly.

Naruto grumbled a few choice words under his breath. "There's nothing I can do about this?" he asked.

"No."

"What does this mean for me?"

"In short, it means you're getting married," Jiraiya said. "In broader terms, you'll have to keep up good appearances for the village's sake. It won't look good if she's miserable being with you, so you'll have to at least try and keep her happy, and most importantly, you'll have to keep her safe."

Naruto gave the man a curious look. "Safe?"

Jiraiya nodded, internally smirking victoriously as Naruto took the bait, hook, line, and sinker. Now all he had to do was reel it all in, sit back, and watch. "Yes, Naruto. Safe," he said. "Temari is an important figure to Suna, and this marriage will make her important to Konoha as well. What with the recent invasion, it makes sense that there are those who would rather she and Suna not get this opportunity. Not to mention the other villages who would seek to ruin this chance at our alliance holding true. It's likely that her life will be at risk as soon as word of this spreads."

"You want me to be a bodyguard?" Naruto asked sceptically. "After what happened in wave country?"

"That's what we are counting on," Jiraiya said, a twinge of guilt burning in the back of his mind. It was bad enough that he had a part to play in what Naruto had become, but playing on the darkest aspects of the boy's mind was sickening. It made him feel too much like Orochimaru to be comfortable with.

Naruto's lips ever so slightly twitched at the corners, threatening an all too knowing smile as things clicked in his head. "Protect her… by any means?"

Jiraiya looked away in shame, already regretting what he was about to say. "By any means, Naruto," he said. "Her safety, this marriage, is important to Konoha. Unless the Hokage himself specifies otherwise, her safety takes precedence over everything else… over anyone else."

Naruto seemed to take a moment to think Jiraiya's words over. "This is what the old man said?" he inquired cautiously.

"The Hokage will confirm the parameters of the agreement with you when you meet with him."

"When?"

"As soon as you're ready. You will also have to properly introduce yourself to Temari, and you will both have to officially agree to the marriage in front of the Hokage and Suna diplomats," Jiraiya explained.

Naruto nodded. "I'll think about it, but I'm eating first," he said, making his way to the door. "Come get me when everyone else is ready."

"Naruto," Jiraiya said, halting the boy suddenly and earning him a very annoyed look. "This is going to be a good thing. Trust me."

"We will see," Naruto said coldly before slamming the door behind him.

"Yeah, I guess we will…"

Temari remained displeased with her attempts to learn anything substantial about her soon to be husband. It had proven to be a painfully un-insightful venture from which she learnt nothing more than just how miserable things were going to be for her. Shikamaru had been at least partially helpful, but only to the extent of telling her what Naruto was like during the academy years. Apparently when he wasn't busy putting other kids in the hospital for any slight against him, he mostly kept to himself. The only positive she got from that was that Naruto didn't actively kill any other kids whilst in the academy.

That was where the good news ended. Apparently Ino was friends with the pink haired member of Naruto's genin team. Temari couldn't tell if the stories were exaggerated, her only comparison being the annoyingly vague mission reports in his file, but what Ino had supposedly heard was unsettling, for them anyway. For Temari, it was like any other day of her life. Gaara was killing people with barely any restraint before he was a genin, so by her standards Naruto was at least less insane than him, or she hoped so. Didn't mean she misunderstood the gravity of the story.

Gaara made a reputation of himself by being untouchable. Naruto was making his own similar reputation of being unkillable. Between wearing his orange tracksuit as a target on his back, and his team's strange knack for getting themselves in much more danger than they should have been, Naruto was slowly putting that reputation to the test.

"Temari?"

She snapped out of her thoughts as Baki entered her room. "Yes?"

"We have been summoned by the Hokage," Baki said.

"Oh, give me a minute and I'll be good to go," she said, already up and hurriedly tying her hair up. "Has something happened?"

"Naruto has returned," Baki said, giving Temari a knowing look. "We have all been summoned. You are to meet him, and you both will agree officially to the marriage before everyone."

Temari froze for a moment before taking a deep breath. She knew what that meant. "I may need a little longer," she said nervously.

Baki nodded. "Take your time. We are not in a rush."

She waited for Baki to leave before she grabbed two large tufts of her hair in frustration. He didn't say it outright, but Baki knew exactly what to say to get the message across. He had been lenient on her during the travels here and all the way up until now, letting her still present herself as a kunoichi of Suna, allowing her to still dress in her preferred attire. It had helped her keep her composure with everything that was happening. It appeared that now was the time that luxury came to an end. There was a certain level of presentation expected by someone in her current position.

She let her hair go and went to the wardrobe. While she may have held off on this part for as long as she could, that didn't mean she came unprepared. It wasn't much; a simple long black dress with white trim, a red sash to go with it. Not much of an outfit by diplomacy standards, but it was as far as she was willing to go. Temari understood the importance of looking the part, so she would try. She was expected to win Konoha and Naruto over with her looks. There wasn't any point in fighting. She took what little time she had to get dressed and make sure everything was in order. She decided that her standard four ponytail style of hair was maybe a tad too much and instead opted for a tidier single ponytail. The most painful part came when she had to forgo tying her forehead protector around her neck, leaving her village's symbol resting on the bed. A glance in the mirror was all she needed to know that the dress looked good, her body finally starting to fill in where it mattered. The hair would definitely have to go back to normal as soon as this was over.

It was dark when they reached the Hokage's office. Temari wasn't exactly sure what to expect this time around, but upon entering she found herself uniquely surprised. The Hokage was obviously there, as were his two advisors, but there were also several other faces. Some she recognised, notable clan heads of the village and reputable shinobi in their own right, but others were unknown to her, such as a heavily bandaged old man lurking in the corner. While she didn't have any issues with anyone present that she knew of, the extra eyes on her did very little to ease her discomfort. The anxiety had already started to creep its way out of the depths, the tightness in her jaw was only the start.

As she and the diplomats made themselves known, Temari noticed one glaring detail missing from the scene before her. Naruto himself was notably not around. A confusing twisted sense of relief and panic started swirling in her stomach. Had he backed out? Was the marriage proposal a failure? What was going to happen now? Was she finally free from this responsibility? Too many thoughts at once and not enough time to carefully shut them all up.

"How was the sight-seeing?" Koharu asked, earning a jump of surprise from the girl. "Relax. As much as I would love to live in a fairy tale, I know better than anyone that my days of sneaking up on people are long gone. You're lost in your thoughts, dear. What's troubling you?"

"Forgive me, I don't mean to be rude," Temari said softly, bowing slightly to the older woman.

Koharu chuckled. "Don't fret," she said. "This is a big deal for you. Your future hangs in the balance. No one here would blame you for being a little distracted."

"Why are there so many people here?" Temari asked.

"Politics is a crowd sport, dear," the old woman said with a smirk. "No one likes the responsibility, but the feeling of being important to the village is addictive to most. The clan heads have no say in the matter, but if letting them sit in on such events and allowing them to have an opinion makes them feel special then all the better. I imagine Suna handles such affairs differently?"

"My father never coddled anyone's pride," Temari said. "If they didn't need to be around then they weren't. No one liked it, but no one challenged it either."

"Efficient. I can respect that. Short sighted perhaps. Konoha prides itself on the strength of our clans, but it is foolish to assume such tactics would work for all villages."

"It's kind of… nice," Temari said.

"It can be, sometimes."

"I don't mean to ask out of turn, but isn't someone missing?"

Koharu nodded knowingly. "You are right to be curious," she said. "Many here are just as interested to see the outcome. The Hokage insists the boy will show."

"And what do you think?"

"I think the boy is problematic at the best of times. If he knew not showing up would make everyone stress then he would have to be dragged kicking and screaming."

Temari gave the woman a strange look. "You don't talk about him like you hate him…" she said. "Everyone else is afraid of him, or talk about him like he's the plague."

Koharu scoffed. "I'm far too old to be afraid of some child," she said. "Naruto is… a headache. Unruly and not without issues, but I've seen worse. Hate is also something I cannot afford to waste time with. If I hated everyone that caused me annoyance half the world would be on that list."

"Should I be… worried?" Temari asked. "Everyone I've spoken to won't give me a straight answer."

"You? No. The boy would be mad to harm you."

"So, he isn't crazy?"

"If only things were that simple," Koharu said longingly. "Sorry to cut things short, my dear. I must take my place. Keep your chin up and don't let this riff raff make you second guess yourself."

Temari watched as the elderly woman made her way towards the Hokage, the clan heads and others following suit and breaking from their small groups of conversation to form a more official layout. Even Baki eventually had to leave her side and take his place, leaving her to stand alone before the group. If there was ever a time for God to end her suffering, now would be the perfect moment. She wasn't even sure why things had suddenly gotten so formal. Naruto still hadn't showed up. The whole room was just staring at her awkwardly, as if waiting impatiently for her to start tap dancing or break out into song. Then the door opened slightly.

Temari had to fight the urge to role her eyes as Kakashi poked his head around the door and gave a sheepish eye-smile. It was clearly not only her who was annoyed at the man's antics with at least a couple of those present not trying to hide their displeasure. Nothing got any better when he opened the door all the way, waltzing in as if he weren't late, the subject of everyone's curiosity casually following behind him. For what it was worth, Naruto didn't immediately give off an impending sense of doom to Temari. He looked bored and uninterested at best, barely even looking at her for more than a moment as he scanned the room. She wasn't sure if that was a good thing or if he was intentionally trying to insult her existence.

Finally seeing him in person for the first time in a month was interesting though. She had taken very little notice of him during the exams until the final stage, but even then, her mind had been too preoccupied to truly take in his appearance. It was not often she met many other blondes. Even if her hair was noticeably less vibrant with colour it was still a nice thing to notice. He was still shorter than her, but somehow it seemed less so than before. He couldn't have gotten taller in a month, could he? No, she was definitely remembering things wrong.

"About damn time," Tsume said. "Can we hurry up and get this over with. I have better things to be doing."

"Of course," Hiruzen said, gesturing for everyone to take their respective seats and for Naruto and Temari to take their place centre stage so to speak. "Now that everyone is here, we may proceed."

"Are we sure this is something we are willing to agree to?" Inoichi asked.

"You have objections?" Homura inquired.

"I think it's fair to say that we are all curious as to the circumstances at hand," Shikaku said. "This is not some standard peace deal. What it stands for is one thing, but if I'm being honest, most of us are more curious as to what it means. As the parents of the next generation of valuable clan heirs, this meeting could easily have started on a far less than friendly tone."

"Your concerns are noted, but such a discussion will be had at a later date," Hiruzen said.

"Why not now?" Tsume asked sharply. "Maybe we can avoid this mess to begin with."

"Because I said!" Hiruzen snapped. "Do not fool yourselves into thinking that any amount of words and complaints will change the outcome of tonight. You are here to bear witness to the decision we have made. The only ones who can change what will happen here are standing before you now. So please, do pay attention. Temari, Naruto, if you would."

Temari was quick to start on que. She stepped forward and bowed deeply. "Thank you, lord Hokage," she said. "I am honoured to be here. All of your presence' means a lot to both myself and my village. The acceptance of our proposal, and by extension, me as the candidate, goes a long way towards rekindling the friendship our villages have shared over the years."

While not unexpected, Temari was a little surprised to see her words had at least somewhat charmed the clan heads. A few prideful smiles being shared as she gave them the satisfaction of grovelling at their feet. It was sad to see from the members of a village that often claimed to be above such things. It was not to last thankfully as all attention quickly turned to Naruto, who much to his credit had not reacted to her little speech.

"I'm not sucking up," he said, ignoring everyone else and staring down the Hokage.

Temari gave the boy a stupid look. Was he trying to piss them off? The whole room was death glaring him, save for Tsume, the Inuzuka clan head, who was actively holding back the urge to laugh.

"Naruto…" Hiruzen said warningly.

Naruto continued to stare blankly. "No."

"Ahem… maybe it is wise to simply move on," Koharu said.

"Very well. As you are all aware by now, we are here to officiate the proposal made to us by Suna," Hiruzen began. "A political marriage is an uncommon practice, but holds its place firmly in the history of Konoha and all the greater villages. As such, it was not without much deliberation that I chose to accept their offer. To say that Temari is the perfect candidate would be an understatement. Suna could not have offered better, or more meaningful. The meaning behind such an offering has not been lost on me, and I trust it has not been lost on any of you," he said, earning several nods of agreement and understanding.

"Your collective concerns, I might add, are justified," he continued. "During the time I had to consider my response, I did in fact think of approaching several of you about your children's potential in representing our village in this matter. Needless to say, I came to a better solution."

"You call this better?" Inoichi asked sceptically.

"Do you have a better idea?" Hiruzen asked.

No one said a word, leaving the room in a state of awkward silence.

"My choice stands," he said. "Naruto will act as Konoha's candidate for the marriage. The two need only agree to the terms officially before us all here. From there dates can be set and progress made towards ensuring a lasting peace and bond with Suna." Everyone once again turned their eyes to the two standing before them. "Temari…"

Her heart was both pounding in her chest and yet threatening to stop at any moment. Each slow agonising beat forcing tiny breaths from her lungs. It hurt, but thankfully the pain was a good grounding sensation. "Yes, lord Hokage?"

Hiruzen cleared his throat. "Do you, Temari of the sand, agree and accept the terms set forth by your village and its council? Do you understand and accept all of the conditions and expectations laid out before you in this marriage?"

"I do."

"And you Naruto…" the Hokage said. "Do you agree and accept the terms put forth by myself and the village of Konoha? Do you understand the expectations we have for you and are you willing to proceed with them?"

Temari's eyes were glued to the jinchuuriki. Patiently watching for some sort of change, any reaction or inclination into what he was thinking. It was small, but there was a slight shift in his features, glancing changes, as if he was talking to himself in his head. Eventually his eyes turned to her, an intense gaze that somehow made her forget about all the other eyes on her in the moment. She knew what he was doing. Watching her as she watched him, scanning her for… something. It dawned on her that she had no idea what he could possibly be looking for. It wasn't until his eyes drifted down to her hands that she even noticed her own minute tremors. On reflex she clenched her hands together.

It was bound to happen, but Temari wasn't quite ready for the instance that they locked eyes. She was embarrassed to admit that she knew how pathetic the look she was giving him was. Pleading, full of anxiety and unsureness, practically begging him to go along with all this mess. Oh, how she loathed the pitiful thing she was right now. She wanted all of this to be over as quickly as possible, to return to some semblance of normalcy. Whatever normal was supposed to be after tonight.

"No."

And just like that, the world was chaos again. Naruto didn't even wait for anyone's response, already making his way to the door before he had finished answering. The door closed behind him and everyone stared at it in some variation of shock or surprise. None more so than Temari. But shock was short lived. Within seconds it had grown to confusion, then it swelled into frustration, until eventually it burst out of her in rage.

"What the fuck!?" she said, amusingly unaware of the company she was in. "Who the hell does he… what… why the… is it… I'll kill him!"

With that Temari made off after Naruto, slamming the door behind her as she went, unknowingly leaving a room of highly amused expressions.

"Kakashi, please make sure nothing unfortunate happens," Hiruzen said, the masked man vanishing quickly.

"Yeah, make sure that girl doesn't kill the brat. If anyone has a hope in hell of getting the job done, it's her right now," Tsume said with a chuckle.

"Forgive her outburst," Baki said. "I will go and ensure things are okay."

"Give the poor girl some space," Koharu said. "As if it isn't bad enough that we put her on the spot like this. That brat just had to go and make things difficult… again."

"I thought you said the boy had already agreed?" Baki asked the Hokage, directing everyone's attention to the old man.

Hiruzen groaned deeply as he rubbed his tired eyes. "It is complicated," he said in frustration. "Something is obviously going on."

"Should we be concerned about that?" Inoichi asked cautiously, the second meaning of his words not going amiss by those listening. The fear of the Kyuubi's influence was always in the back of their minds. While mostly unfounded, it never hurt to be vigilant wherever Naruto was involved.

"No, no," Hiruzen said, waving his hand at them. "I will handle it. This meeting is obviously at an end. My apologies for wasting all your time. Should the need arise to reconvene I will inform you all."

Konoha was a beautiful village. No one was going to deny that, especially not Temari. Somehow, at night, the beauty was only more noticeable. Streets lit up for hours, people living life to the fullest with all the spare time they had. It was something Suna had been jealous of. The harsh climate they lived in didn't leave a lot to be enjoyed; whatever time wasn't spent working was wasted enduring the elements. But here, it was clear, a gentle chill in the passing breeze barely offering discomfort as the village thrived. No where was this scene more visible, more potent, than from atop the Hokage monument.

A sight to see was an understatement. While all the major villages, and even several of the lesser-known ones had their tourist attractions, none quite compared to Konoha. The whole village on display for the world to see, its glory and majesty was truly humbling. The only issue Temari had with the view, was the moron standing in the way of it.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she asked.

Naruto shrugged. "Avoiding people."

Temari's eye twitched. "You can't just walk out on this."

"I can."

"You didn't even take time to consider it."

Naruto quirked his head at her curiously. "You want this to happen? To be forced to marry me?" he asked.

"Of course I don't! I didn't want any of this! But my village has expectations of me, and I'll sooner die than let you fuck it all up after all the stress I just put myself through to agree to go along with it all!" she yelled.

"You should have refused. Could have saved us both the trouble."

"I can't refuse. Not anymore. And neither can you."

Naruto's eye's narrowed at the girl. "You don't get to tell me what to do," he said warningly.

Temari scoffed at him. "I don't care what you do, as long as you don't ruin this," she said. "I don't know what the Hokage told you, or what your village expects of you, but I don't give a shit. My village needs this to happen… I need this to happen. So, here's what's going to happen, you're gonna go back to the Hokage and apologise. You're going to agree to the marriage, then, once everything is finished, we can go about our lives as if neither of us exists, save for the occasional necessary meeting or public show. I stay out of your way; you stay out of mine."

"Why should I?"

"Because if you don't, I'll make it my life's mission to make sure you regret it."

The smile he gave her was almost enough to have her seeing red. It was some twisted combination of smug and challenging. "I'd like to see you tr…"

Crack!

No sooner had the words left his mouth had Temari's fist collided with his face. The satisfactory crunch of his nose under her knuckles brought her own twisted smile to her face as she waited for him to stumble back… but he didn't. Her face fell slightly as he held firm against her punch, still staring at her, his smile never leaving his stupid face even while blood began to run from his nose. She didn't get a chance to recoil at the sight before he grabbed her wrist hard enough to hurt, twisted her arm up behind her back and forced her down to her knees. The pin-prick sensation of a kunai at her throat was all the warning Temari got as she closed her eyes and waited… and waited.

Temari felt the hold on her arm ease and the kunai pull away slowly from her skin. She opened her eyes slowly and turned her head up to look at him. He was… spaced out? She wasn't sure how to describe it, but it was obvious he wasn't focused. It reminded her of how he appeared in the Hokage's office, as though he was lost in thought, only this time was different, as if he was barely there at all.

"Naruto…"

Temari glanced at Kakashi quickly before turning back to Naruto, watching as he came to. He stared at her with what looked like curiosity for a moment until he let go of her and let her put some distance between them. She watched him like a hawk while he put away his kunai and wiped the blood from his face, his nose already healing, then finally turned to Kakashi.

"Tell the Hokage I will consider the proposal further," he said, giving Temari a strange look.

He started walking away before either of them could say anything, leaving a flabbergasted Temari and a visibly intrigued Kakashi in his wake.

"Are you alright?" Kakashi asked Temari.

"I'm fine," she said, rubbing her wrist slightly. "I think…"

Kakashi hummed thoughtfully in agreement. "That was a little strange, even by Naruto's standards," he said.

"I don't even understand what just happened."

"If I was to hazard a guess, I'd say you've managed to make an impression on him," Kakashi said.

Temari frowned as she stared in the direction Naruto had gone. "Is that good, or bad?"

"Wouldn't have a clue," he answered with an eye-smile.

"Of course you don't," Temari said with a groan. "So, what now?"

"I should go and let the Hokage know the good news. You should go and get that wrist looked at. Naruto has a tendency to not know his own strength," he said, offering a wave goodbye as he vanished in a swirl of leaves.

Temari wiped the small spot of blood from her neck and sat down atop the Hokage monument, idly rubbing her fingers dry. She knew things weren't going to be easy. That much had been clear since before she even left Suna. But now it was starting to really look like she would be giving her life in service to her village in a much more literal sense. If the way Naruto was acting towards her was any indication, then at least she had a chance of making things work to her advantage. Konoha might be happy to tiptoe around the issue, but Temari wasn't about to put up with this shit without putting up some kind of a fight.

'Why are we here?' Naruto asked, finding himself, for the first time in a long time, genuinely confused by the situation he found himself in. He felt the Kyuubi's chakra bleed into his eyes, turning them a dark red and lighting up the world in a way that always amazed him. Seeing the world as a bijuu did was one of the few things in life he found he truly enjoyed.

'We are observing,' the Kyuubi said plainly.

With his eyes adjusting to the chakra, Naruto finally turned his attention to their supposed target of interest. Luckily, or stupidly, Temari hadn't noticed him sitting on the roof of the building across from her hotel room. He had been following her since the Hokage monument at the Kyuubi's request, but the fox had been infuriatingly tight lipped about the reason why. So far, aside from briefly showing up to the hospital, the girl had done nothing of interest. Even now, as she sat on her bed scrawling over his file for the umpteenth time, there was nothing Naruto could see as being useful to observe.

'You stopped me from killing her,' he said. 'Why?'

'This girl holds political standing among her people, no?'

'Yes. But if she marries me, she will become part of Konoha. What use will she be?'

'The Hokage is attempting to contain us,' the Kyuubi said. 'As much as it sickens me to say, but it may do us well to play it safe for the moment. That accursed Sannin is still lurking around. The last thing we need is him getting suspicious and tampering with the seal. All of our progress could be ruined.'

'And?'

'The girl is our solution. The old fool thinks he can tie us down with her. Keep tabs on us. Control us. There is no harm in making him think his little scheme is working.'

'You expect me to play along with this?'

'I expect you to do whatever is necessary to ensure these insufferable idiots don't keep such a close eye on us. It is challenging enough for you to do what is necessary as it is without further hindrance. We need a cover. This girl is perfect. An opportunity like this will not simply fall into your lap again.'

Naruto scrunched his nose. 'How long do I have to do this for?'

'As long as it takes, boy. All we need is time.'

Naruto sighed deeply as he continued to watch Temari. Somewhere along the line she had fallen asleep on top of the pages of his file. He chose to take this opportunity to find out just what information the old man had given her. Being careful was a no-brainer. There had to be ANBU keeping tabs on the hotel, and he didn't want to get caught up in another chase with them anytime soon. They were annoyingly persistent, even commendably so, but he didn't have time to test his speed right now. Once inside he found the security to be rather lacking.

Temari was peaceful. At least Naruto thought so. Most people were when they slept, but he found himself lingering on her longer than he thought he should. Whether it was curiosity or something else, he couldn't say, yet his eyes lingered still. It was good perhaps. If he was going to marry her then at the very least, he would need to be able to tolerate her. If he could get her to sleep more often then not then it would be easy. His eyes began to wander, taking in everything he could of her while her defences were down.

She was strong. His freshly healed nose could attest to that. But she was also kind of… pretty. He shook his head of the thought. What she looked like didn't matter. The Kyuubi said she could be valuable so he would make sure she could be. Outside of that he didn't need the distraction. As he carefully went through the pages of the file, making sure to be gentle as he moved her body off of the pages underneath her, he realised just how little the Hokage had given Temari to work with. Basic knowledge, more than anyone outside of the village would have, but still nothing substantial. Nothing of his past or time before the academy. Skeleton mission reports. A majority of what she could learn from the file was what she could have already ascertained during the chunin exams.

It was the page she had fallen asleep reading that had him the most intrigued. The entire time he had been watching her go over the file, she continued to go back to this page, over and over again, staring at it endlessly as if it held some great answer for her. It was the page regarding his jinchuuriki status. Again, not much to work with, yet she was fixated on it. Perhaps it was a curiosity she held before him, spurred by her brother's shared circumstances. Maybe she and her village had plans for him now that they knew what he was. It didn't matter. The Hokage, Temari, Suna, it didn't matter who was using who. All that matter was that no one got in his way.

Naruto took the time to carefully put the file back together and place it on the bedside table. This little venture had proven to be rather pointless but at least he knew where things stood. He turned out the light as he went, taking a quick second to once again look back at the sleeping form of Temari.

"You suck at pretending."

Temari sat up but not fast enough to catch a glimpse of him before he was gone. She let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding and went to close the window. There was no way the window being closed or not was going to make a difference. If someone wanted her dead, she'd be dead. She was almost sure that's what Naruto was sneaking in here to do. Much to her annoyance, his intentions and true character continued to elude her.

'Only the rest of my life left to put up with this shit,' she thought to herself cynically. "Fuck I need a drink."

A/N:

Well guys, sorry this one took a little longer than the last two. Don't have heaps of spare time these days. I hope you guys enjoy. Been loving the responses I've gotten for this story so far and hope I don't let too many of you down with my update pace or direction of the story.

Any and all reviews are much appreciated.

I'll see you guys with the next chapter as soon as I can.

Thank you for all the support and positive responses.