This was pointless.

THIS was pointless.

The Games are supposed to be the ultimate battlefield, the perfect place for Gaara to prove his own existence. Even now surrounded by so many potential victims, the young jincuriki could feel his blood lust boil. Yet he had to wait. Forced to go all these ceremonies, distractions from the violence he was promised.

This "Ball" served as the latest such distraction. Typically a Kage's children would grow up attending several of these events, but Gaara wasn't the typical son of a Kazekage. It had taken Baki two full hours to convince him to put on the ceremonial kimono, a dark green garment with the kanji for wind printed in white on the back, and Suna's insignia on the front. He already had to wear one for the opening parade, why did he have to wear a different one for a private dinner and a ball? Explaining that no weapons were allowed ("Yes Gaara your gourd counts as a weapon") in the Opening Ball was an even more difficult conversation. At last Gaara acquiesced to a compromise that would allow him to discreetly keep his sand armor, as long as none of the samurai noticed.

Now he found himself waiting in the entrance way of Suna's suite, standing with his similarly well dressed brother and mentor. Like Gaara, both wore a green kimono, however neither's dressing were adorned with any symbols. However unlike the genin, Baki still wore his forehead protector. It was honestly a little weird to see Kankuro without his normal cat suit (though Kankuro would always be enraged whenever someone called it that). It was even weirder seeing him without his normal make up. While Gaara would never consciously acknowledge this, his older brother bore a striking resemblance to their father without it.

Waiting for a week to enter the city, waiting now for this ball to begin, waiting for the Games, all of it so far was just so pointless. It would be another week before he could enter the arena and at last satisfy his urges. But for now he would wait.

"Ack, what's taking them so long". As always Kankuro was quick to complain. While Gaara silenced the puppet master with a glare, he couldn't help but agree with him. Yet another thing that was making him wait. Gaara did not like to kept waiting.

"Achoo"

"You alright Sasori."

"I'm fine, someone must be thinking of me."

"WAIT, PUPPETS CAN SNEEZE?"

"Come on."

At last the door to Matsuri's room opened, and out came Temari practically dragging the Candidate out of the room. It was Termari's job after all as Matsuri's attendant to get her ready, or in this case, force her into the outside world when her courage has abandoned her. Gaara had not once been impressed by the brown haired genin since his father drew her name from the lottery. The girl was clearly terrified off him (rightfully so) and even now seemed like she was on the brink of breaking into tears. Even if she hadn't been selected for the Games, he couldn't imagine her lasting long as a shinobi.

Thrust forward by Temari, Matsuri stumbled towards Gaara. She wore a dress in the same shade of green as Gaara's kimono, with matching symbols on the front back. Temari's gown was similar, though like Kankuro's it lacked the symbols the Candidates were wearing.

As Matsuri straightened herself out, she took the rare risk of glancing up from the floor and looking Gaara directly in the eyes.

"S-s-sorry for making you wait Lord Gaara." Another quick glare had the girl fumbling and looking away. With his 'partner' finally emerging from the false safety of her room, Gaara strode forth opening the door of the suite and entering the hallway. The rest of the Suna shinobi, hastened to follow him out the door, with Temari once again dragging the reluctant Matsuri along with her.

As soon as they entered the hallway, they found themselves flanked by four samurai. The only time the samurai had been absent since he had volunteered for the Games were the brief hours he had been in the suite. The whole hallway was lined with more samurai as they protected the Candidates from potential espionage and sabotage. Each village had its own wing in the fortress, and between the samurai and countless wards, even the most talented infiltrators would struggle to come anywhere close to another village's suite. Though that didn't always stop some ninja from trying.

As they walked along the hall toward elevator shaft that would take them down to the private room on the second floor where all the Candidates would share dinner together, Gaara briefly looked outside a passing window, observing a large crowd of nobles and merchants waiting in line to enter the open fortress for the larger ball. At the end of the day this whole celebration was really for their sakes than it was for the candidates.

With how much they had been delayed, Gaara expected they would be the last Candidates to arrive. After all, punctuality is vital to any shinobi's success. Yet to his surprise there was another team aboard the elevator when the hand-powered lift arrived at their floor. Already aboard stood the Candidates from Konoha, wearing identical clothing to him and Matsuri, except in the Land of Fire's traditional red colors. Both Candidates were noticeably pale, the boy offered him a fake smile, while the girl merely glared at the Suna contingent. Their silver haired, masked mentor offered a much more convincing smile, while Gaara barely made note of the two Konoha attendants; a raven haired boy and an oddly pink haired girl.

The red clad mentor looked up towards Baki, and once again smiled, crinkling his mask in greeting, "Looks like we'll be sharing."

"Hatake," Baki responded firmly, acknowledging his counterpart from the Land of Fire.

So this was the legendary Kakashi Hatake then, the youngest ever winner of the Games. Gaara quickly reevaluated the two enemy Candidates. Any genin mentored by the Copy Ninja would surely be a notable foe indeed.

Gaara could once again feel his anticipation growing for the coming slaughter. With worthy opponents like this, he could surely prove his own existence. Matsuri backed away from him sharply as his blood lust began to radiate as did all the other genin in the elevator, except for the boy candidate from Konoha who continued his fake smile. The two jounin and the many samurai in the elevator would remain tense all the way down to the fortresses' second floor. At last the elevator stopped and all four Candidates, their attendants, and their samurai escorts exited the lift. Their mentors, along with two samurai, remained in the elevator, they would go down to the first floor, straight to the Opening Ball. The Candidates private dinner would be a genin and samurai only affair.

"Good luck kids," Hatake called out as the elevator began it's descent. Baki merely nodded towards Temari and Kankuro before disappearing from view.

The samurai quickly separated the two groups of genin, and started moving them down the hall of the second floor, the Konoha team going first. This was a fairly short walk as the room where they would all be dining was fairly close the elevator with two more samurai standing in front of the wooden door. Upon seeing the genin, one of the samurai opened the door while the other quickly rushed both groups in, closing the door behind them.

The stone room itself was rather sparse. No windows, the only decorations a series of torches on the wall, a second wooden door at the rooms' side, presumably leading to a makeshift kitchen where their meal was being prepared. In the middle of the room was a long wooden table that was filled with the other candidates, all of whom were sitting in complete silence. The boys on the near side of the table, while their kunoichi counterparts were on the opposite side. Behind each Candidate, standing against the walls, was their respective attendant. While the Candidates themselves may have been silent, Gaara could detect many soft conversations going on in the background.

Temari and Kankuro, along with the Konoha attendants hurried to their designated spots on each side of the room, and Gaara could immediately detect his siblings' low voices join these conversations. Gaara himself moved toward his own spot near the center of table after noting Suna's symbol carved on the back of an empty wooden chair. Matsuri followed hesitantly as she moved to sit on the other side of the table, directly across from him, as did the Konoha representatives whose spots were next to their's.

As Gaara sat down he made note that the other Candidates were all dressed in the colors of their respective nations. In the very center of the table sat the yellow garbed Candidates from Kumo, to their right Kiri in blue, Iwa in brown, an empty chair with Taki's waterfall carved on the back (someone else was even later than they were), Ame in navy, Shimo in white, Tani in Silver and the lone kunoichi from Nadeshiko in pink. To Kumo's left, after Konoha and Suna came the light green Kusa, the gray Oto, the orange Ishi, and finally the purple Hoshi.

Upon seeing 24 of his 26 opponents all in one place, Gaara at last understood the point of this little dinner. It would give him his first chance for an extended look to study all of his prey in close quarters at one time.

He wasn't alone in this evaluation, as every single candidate, except for Matsuri who was looking down at her own feet, was studying the red headed jinchuriki. Not for long as behind him the door slammed open, grabbing the attention of every single person in the room, even his.

"Hi everyone, I want to make 100 friends," shouted the new entrant in the room.

The sear on the pork was perfect, the meat itself was tender and juicy. They had clearly slaughtered a prize pig to prepare the chops. The side vegetables had been seasoned masterfully, and a rich aroma wafted from the little bowls of broth. Altogether an exceptional meal.

Sadly Kurotsuchi hadn't been able to enjoy any of it.

"Have you tried the peppers yet Kusu, they're soooo goooood," exclaimed the mint haired girl sitting next to her, which bizarrely matches with her dress.

From the moment she had burst through the door, Fu had done everything possible to drive Kurotsuchi insane. The whole playful, friendly, naive act was clearly the single greatest act of deceit she had seen in her all of her days as a Genin. Did she have a lot of experience with enemy deception tactics? Not really, at the end of the day as talented as she is Kurotsuchi's still a genin. But still, the Taki's genin performance was ridiculous.

"Kusu, have you tried the peppers? Kusu? Kusu?"

That nickname was also driving Kurotsuchi crazy. She had been taken off guard when Fu first entered the room and plopped right down in the designated seat next to her. If she had been ready perhaps Kurotsuchi would have stayed silent when Fu asked her her name. Instead she cursed her lack of foresight for sharing that detail, as it took Fu a mere two seconds to start calling her 'Kusu'. According to her, friends were supposed to give each other nicknames. Kurotsuchi had no idea how she had given her the idea that they were friends. For Kami's sake, didn't the girl know that their nations were historically enemies.

"Oh man the eggplant is just as good! Kusu you've gotta try the eggplant," Fu exclaimed as she shoveled piece of the vegetable from the platter onto Kurotsuchi's plate. Fu had done this with every dish she had deemed delicious, which was all of them. Kurotsuchi had at first thought her new "bestie" was trying to poison her, but after all this time together, she was coming closer and closer to the horrific realization that all of this was genuine.

Kurotsuchi could have tolerated the nickname, the food and the complete lack of social graces if Fu hadn't been talking non-stop to her for two hours. Two hours! She was so distracted she hadn't had any opportunities whatsoever to observe any of the other Candidates. The constant noise prevented her from attempting to listen in on any of whispered conversations of the attendants, who unlike the Candidates moved freely around the room gathering into small clumps.

She could only hope Akatsuchi was able to pick up something. A dinner's often the perfect place to pick up information on a target, a lot can be learned about another's personality from the way they ate and composed themselves in a social setting. The more one knew about their personality, the easier it would be to predict what kind of actions they may take on the battlefield.

There wasn't as much talk at the table as there was on the walls, but everyone had spoken at least a little in an effort to trick information out of their competitors. Well except for the Suna pair, but the clear reasoning for each of their silences still revealed information about them both. Now if only Kurotsuchi had been to gain any other intelligence at all during the whole affair. But no she had really only gained information to form a profile on one other genin this whole time.

She had learned a lot about Fu, that she was excitable and easily distracted. While that could be useful to know going into the Arena, it was also something she could learned have sitting on the opposite end of table with how jubilantly loud her neighbor had been.

"Oh Kusu, they're bringing out dessert, man I hope they have mochi. Have you ever tried mochi?"

Okay dessert, they were finally at dessert. That meant this dinner would finally be over soon. Then just a quick stroll to the main hall, a short dance with Akatsuchi to show off to all the nobles and rich men in attendance, then this night would finally be over.

Kurotsuchi had kept her composure the entire meal, no signs of weakness, no outward signal that she would crack and lose control as a result of the constant annoyance. Had someone acted like this back in Iwa she probably would have bashed them over the head within a few minutes. Not here though. Above all else she was a ninja and this was just a part of the mission. She could keep her cool. She was a professional.

"They do have Mochi, oh you've got to try one!"

"WON'T YOU JUST SHUT THE HELL UP!"

To Kurotsuchi's surprise this outburst didn't come from her own mouth but from one of Iwa's other neighbors at the table. The Hozuki boy from Kiri (his name was Suigetsu she recalled) was standing, leaning over the table and shouting towards Fu. "YOU HAVE NOT STOPPED TALKING THIS ENTIRE TIME".

As the target of the annoying bits of conversation, she hadn't considered that somebody else might be equally annoyed as her. Though maybe she shouldn't have been so surprised that a boy lacked her self control.

An angry Fu quickly joined in the shouting, standing as well, "DON'T TELL ME TO SHUT UP, YOU SHUT UP!" With this she slammed her fist into the table, the force of which knocked a small bowl of broth lying between her and Kurotsuchi off the table. Kurotsuchi quickly jumped up to avoid any splatter, a stained dress would make a bad first impression on the shallow sponsors. Sadly this action was perceived to be her jumping up in defense of her newfound best friend.

Suigestu sneered towards her, "Oh here comes Iwa, fucking backstabbers!"

"Don't you talk to her like that!" An enraged Fu was leaning closer and closer to Suigestu. It wouldn't take much longer for the two genin to engage in an all out brawl.

Luckily Kurotscuhi wasn't the only one to notice this as both of the screaming fools were grabbed from behind by two samurai each, and dragged out through the two separate doors kicking and screaming obscenities at each other.

As the doors shut behind them a cold silence settled over the room. Suddenly Kurotuschi realized everyone in the room was looking at her, as she was still standing. Blushing as she sat down, like with the meal she found herself unable to enjoy the silence as a result of the embarrassment. Gradually all eyes turned back to their own plates as the candidates started to eat their dessert. Except for the eyes of Suigestu's partner, a Funato kunoichi (or maybe pirate would be a better moniker) by the name of Seiren, who was sitting next to Kurotsuchi on her other side and glaring sharp daggers her way.

Iwa and Kiri would never be on friendly terms, but making enemies before the games began was certainly not the best idea.

A few minutes later, the boy from Konoha turned to Gaara and joyfully asked "So how many people have you killed?"

The sounds of two attendants slapping their own faces with the palms of their hands could be heard around the room. Clearly every other village's genin were insane.

"Trust me Sai is a natural, almost as talented as I was at that age," Kakashi said to an elderly nobleman from the Land of Lightning.

Kakashi would rather go eights rounds with an A-Rank missing ninja than schmooze rich people out of their money. Though wearing a mask his entire life did help him master the art of bull shitting. He might not have liked being a salesman, but like most things he did, he was quite good at it. It's not arrogance if it's accurate.

"That's high praise, though if I recall you were quite a big younger during your own games," responded the lord.

"Well think about how good I must have been at his age then." That elicited a fake chuckle from Kakashi and a real one from the nobleman.

"Ha, well I'll keep an eye on the young lad then, but what about the girl does she have the same talent as the boy?" the nobleman asked, raising a white eyebrow in the process.

"I wouldn't have decided to take on a mentorship role if I didn't think we had a pair of potential Victors in our Candidates." Kakashi felt disgusted at himself with that statement. Briefly he wondered if he could have helped other candidates over the years survive the Games but quickly banished that thought from his mind. Considering his complete inability to connect with Sai or Yakumo this entire time, he doubted he could have helped any of them. So there were some things he wasn't good at after all. Still these kids were his comrades, and he would do whatever he could to protect his the moment that meant doing whatever he could to secure some sponsor money.

"If that's the case then you and I may be speaking again quite soon."

"Thank you Lord Kuzan." The two bowed and parted ways. Lord Kuzan walked away grabbing a glass off of a tray from a nearby server. He was likely heading off in search of another mentor to try and get a grasp of their Candidates. That or to talk to some other lords or businessmen.

Finding good sponsors could be the difference between life and death, as Kakashi could attest to. The well timed delivery of a pack of flash bombs or a medical kit, had saved the lives of numerous Candidates in the past. These gifts were exorbitantly expensive and would often require a few sponsors to chip in a portion of the cash. The villages themselves were forbidden from funneling money to aid their Candidates, and Kakakshi wouldn't be able to solicit donations from any resident or citizen from the Land of Fire. That made things a little harder, but not much.

A Victor essentially owed a life debt to their sponsor, and having a powerful shinobi owe you a favor would be valuable for any enterprise regardless of which nation the ninja came from. Plus a bit of prestige always followed those associated with a Victor.

He'd been pitching these potential sponsors for a good two hours now. Several hundred of them were in the Great Hall with several hundred more likely wandering around outside in the courtyard. Probably more value within the fortress this evening than any other location in the world.

Kakashi himself grabbed his third glass of the evening from a passing waiter. The drink was purely for the sake of appearances, he hadn't drunk a single drop of alcohol all night, dumping the contents of his glass into whichever one of the numerous flower arrangements that adorned the Hall was nearby, pretty good chance most of the plants would be dead by morning. If samurai didn't hate shinobi, then their florists surely did.

He doubted any of the other mentors had drunk a drop either. Well except maybe Shibuki. The Taki mentor was clearly in over his head. While the Chunin wasn't the only Victor among the mentors, he was the most recent one at the Ball and as a result probably got more attention than a Taki representative typically received. If the young man needed a little bit of liquid courage to steady his resolve, who was he to judge. Not like he didn't have his own vices, as he subconsciously reached for his Icha Icha book which he had purposefully left in the suite.

Ao, the third and final victor among this year's mentors was busy pitching his Candidates to a shipping magnate from the Land of Waves. Kakashi had talked with the businessman earlier and it hadn't taken long for him to decudce that the short man was only here to gamble and be seen, and had no serious interest in sponsoring any of the Genin. Ao would likely arrive at the same conclusion in a short while and find reason to excuse himself.

Most of the other mentors were one of their candidates' Jounin-sensei which was pretty typical most years. Wearing their nations' colors, they all stood out in the crowd which is generally the opposite of what a ninja would typically strive for. Talking with one of them would be taboo, they're here for the nobles' sake not for each other. Kakashi knew all of his counterparts from the Five Great Nations by reputation. He'd ran into Baki of the Wind Blade earlier in the elevator, the giant son of the Tsuchikage was likely here to look out for his daughter, but the most notable name, even more notable than Kakashi's own, had to belong to the representative from Kumo.

Killer Bee, the Raikage's Brother, but more importantly in this case the jinchuriki for the Hachibi, certainly cut a figure that coincided with his mighty reputation. It was clear that even if Kumo were sending a typical contingent of Candidates this year, they were coming in with the full intention of emerging victorious. Who better to plan the defeat of a jinchuriki than another jinchuriki, one with full control over his Bijuu at that.

Kakashi was once again glad that he left Naruto back in the suite. Only one attendant for each Candidate could attend the private dinner and he certainly lacked the...tact of his teammates that was necessary for such a complex social situation. While he could've of brought his final genin with him to the Ball, Kakashi had a job to do, and keeping Naruto out of trouble would of made that a lot harder. Besides with Gaara's impending arrival, having three jinchuriki in a room probably wasn't the best idea.

(He'd have to get a soup bone from the kitchen to thank Bull for literally genin-sitting and yet another bowl of ramen to ease over any ill feelings Naruto might have)

Sakura and Sasuke were definitely the right calls to attend the dinner. While he had been scrounging up sponsor money the two had hopefully been working on their job of securing an alliance by talking with the other attendants. There were really so few opportunities to interact with the supporting members of the other villages before the Games began. The samurai would let him send two or three letters out to another wing but that would be it. Those would be needed to finalize any details and close the deal, but the framework of an alliance needed to be set tonight.

With a jinchuriki in the Arena an alliance was necessary. Alliances in the Games between the Great Nations tended to fair poorly, too much bad blood built up from past wars. No an alliance would have to come from a minor nation, ideally one of the larger ones. Kakashi had made it clear to Sakura and Sasuke that their primary goal at the dinner would be to secure a deal with Taki. The villages had relatively good relations for neighbors and joint long standing animosity toward Iwa had made them natural allies in the past.

He told them he trusted their discretion to reach an agreement. Obviously he'd have final say of course, but he was putting a lot of faith in the two of them, this was truly their biggest assignment yet. Big, but likely not too difficult. It would be a mutually beneficial agreement with very few obstacles in the way and both sides needed the alliance.

Suddenly horns started to sound, and the party guests all started to clear the area that was designated as the Hall's dance floor. The main event was about to begin.

At the entrance of the Hall stood all 27 tributes, each one hand in hand with their respective partners (Shizuka, Nadeshiko's kunoichi stood with their attendant). As they entered the Hall in the same order as they entered the city during the parade, Kakashi breathed a sigh of relief.

Yakumo appeared to be walking with Sai at a steady pace. Her frailness would inevitably be revealed once the Games started, but any shakiness now could doom their chances for sponsorship before the Games even begun. Once they began dancing Sai could simply lead, move her along and everything would be okay.

Kakashi had tried to instill in the two the importance of the opening dance. These nobles largely lacked anything resembling combat experience, but most of them had received serious training in dance their whole lives. As a result, in their own way they could pick up information from watching a dancer, judging them on their elegance and skill. He may have been skeptical about the extent to which dance skill translated to combat ability but it didn't matter. Sponsors would make judgements from this performance and that would affect many decisions on how they should spend their money.

As the Candidates began the traditional couples' dance, Kakashi couldn't help but pick up a little bit of information himself. The clothes of Suigestu from Kiri and Fu from Taki were both a little ruffled, maybe one had tripped into the other at some point leaving dinner. Probably not the best sign from a potential ally, but he'd wait to hear the details from Sasuke and Sakura. Matsuri from Suna was squirming as she and Gaara moved in a barley passable dance. Kakashi could understand, most genin would likely do the same in her shoes, but the girl wasn't doing herself any favors.

The pair from Shimo were surprisingly graceful, that may earn their mentor a few extra visits from potential sponsors after the dancing ended. On the other end of the spectrum, the giant boys from American and Iwa were a little clumsy, but given their size no one would penalize them for that.

As the music played on Kakashi turned his attention back to Sai and Yakumo. The two moved perfectly adequately, they wouldn't gain anything from this little display, but they wouldn't lose anything either. He could live with that.

The music finally came to a halt and the whole room burst into applause. As the Candidates bowed in thanks to the other party guests, a weight lifted that Kakashi hadn't realized was there. The night was over for the genin, they would all be escorted back to their rooms by the samurai. He'd still have another hour or two of work, now that the dance floor was open he'd be expected to share it with a number of noblewoman before he could return to his suite and debrief the team. But the hardest part of his night was over, only a few sponsors would be interested in meetings at this point in the evening. For the most part they would just want to dance and drink.

Day 1 might as well be done and far as he was concerned, nothing had gone wrong.

Of course it was in that exact moment that a smiling Fu let go of her partners' hand, turned around and hugged Kurotsuchi who was standing behind her.

She hugged Kurotsuchi. She hugged the Tsuchikage's everyone in the Hall looking at them.

A new round of applause broke out. Considering the history between the two villages, a Taki ninja hugging the granddaughter of the Tsuchikage was a powerful moment for most in attendance. A sign of friendship between two girls symbolizing peace between two nations where very little had existed in the past.

But for all the mentors this embrace meant only one thing, an alliance in the arena whether Iwa wanted it or not. As far as potential sponsors were concerned, these two girls were now linked for the remainder of the Games. Civilians tended to be swayed by emotional gestures. Any sign of going back on this act of "friendship" before or during the Games would be seen as the fault of the Great Power, and all the sponsor money would dry up .

More importantly if Iwa was seen rejecting such a public heartfelt outreach of peace in front of so many perspective mission clients with large networks and multinational organizations, why, the village's economy could actually take a hit. The second Fu had wrapped her arms around Kurotsuchi their alliance was written in stone, no pun intended.

But this was more than just a simple alliance between two villages. Considering her lineage and likely ability, Kurotsuchi represented potentially the most powerful genin in the Games after Gaara. Even Kakashi could admit that if any genin had the chance of triumphing over the jinchuriki it was likely her, making Iwa the most sought after alliance this year of any nation.

No that hug likely spelled the doom for some of the smaller villages, whose best chance at victory was a powerful alliance to take down Gaara. In the end it was a masterstroke, Kakakshi could feel his respect for Shibuki rising. A complete out of the box plan that thrust his village into the spotlight for all the sponsors to stare at in wonder, and gained them an ally that gave them an actual fighting chance to win these Games.

Taki had come to the party without a date and left it with the Belle of the Ball on their arm.

They had also left, Kakashi without his best chance for a dance partner. Okay not a problem. Surely between their combined initiative, cunning and grace Sasuke and Sakura had managed to lay the foundations for a potentially fruitful alliance with another village?

Oh Kami, this wasn't good, he needed to talk to somebody tonight. To hell with taboo, going into these games alone, these specific games, would be suicide. There was just too much power being thrown around.

As the Candidates were escorted out, and couples began to move onto the dance floor, Kakashi quickly glanced around the hall trying to avoid looking like someone who was desperate. Ao was raising a glass towards Shibuki who now found himself surround by a larger crowd of potential sponsors than ever before. Kiri was non-starter, both personally and professionally.

Tani? No the Land of Rivers has survived this long by doing whatever it could to appease both Suna and Konoha. They may be here to win, but an action seen as helping Konoha could tip their balancing act in a way they wouldn't risk.

Oto? Maybe. It was a relatively new village so there wasn't exactly a history of animosity there. It's growth was certainly impressive and that showed the kind of ambition that could produce quality shinobi. But there was just something about their mentor, a dark haired man in a ponytail, that left him with a growing sense of dread.

There. A dash of navyout of the corner of his eye.

Kakashi walked slowly, yet deliberately towards his target, who just so happened to be talking to Lord Kuzon. While Kakashi doubted that he was the first to notice his approach, Lord Kuzon was the first to acknowledge it.

"Aw Kakashi, is there something else I can do for you young lad," the Lord kindly asked. The man was beginning to get a little bit into his cups.

"No, I'm sorry my Lord, I'm actually hoping to talk to your companion."

"By all means," a feminine voice called out, "say what you need to say".

Kakashi did his best to look nervous, after all this was a conversation that the samurai would frown upon. He could already feel one of their stares burning a hole in his back. He'd need a good excuse for having it.

"May I have this dance," he asked, putting his hand out for the taking.

Lord Kuzon drunkingly laughed, probably a little louder than intended, "Who am I to stand in the way of young love". That outburst served Kakashi's purposes fairly well. With the party back in full swing, there was too much noise for anybody outsider of their general vicinity to hear it, but the samurai following him was close enough to hear it.

He doubted anyone actually involved with organizing the Games would believe he'd had come over here to merely talk to a beautiful woman. There would be some kind of penalty for this, but Kakashi had his excuse for starting this conversation and he was sure he could wriggle his way into making the penalty a light one.

The bluenette Ame mentor paused for a moment, likely making all of the same calculations as him and a few of her own. After what felt like an eternity, but was really only a second, she took hold of his outstretched hand, "I'd love to."

Lord Kuzon slapped Kakashi on the back, laughing loudly again as he wandered off to find yet another his new partner in hand, the two walked slowly to the dance floor as the musicians began to prepare another song.

This wasn't going to be easy, smaller countries tended to resent it when the Great Nations used their lands as a battlefield. But the only other viable option at this point was Kusa and they presented the same problem. Plus he doubted anyone would buy the idea that he'd want to dance with the Jounin acting as their mentor. He'd already taken his shot, at this point it was Ame or nothing. That'd she was willing to talk to him was hopefully a good sign.

As they made it the center of the dance floor she put her other hand on his shoulder. "You can call me Konan."

"Kakashi Hatake," he responded as he place his hand on her waist.

"I know who you are. The question is what can I do for the 'great' copy ninja." The musicians started to play, Kakashi recognized the song, they'd have about 2 minutes and 18 seconds to complete this conversation. Maybe an extra 10-15 seconds considering the musicians' pace on earlier songs.

The two began swaying along to the music. "I was wondering whether you'd consider an alliance between our candidates." Straight to the point, though she had likely guessed his intention the second he had approached her. It was probably also obvious why he had decided to make such an approach at this point in the evening.

"Konoha has used my nation to further their own ends in the past, why should we help you now." There it was, a combination of historical resentment and smugness in the knowledge that for once the Great Nation needed the minor power more than the other way around.

"There are several mission requests in the region along our border, we'd be happy to open up the area to some joint missions, share a bit of the income." It was an offer that Team 7 had been given the go ahead to make towards Taki, he hoped the Sandaime would let it stands towards Ame. Hanzo and the Hokage would have to figure out the details themsevles. He might get a few extra D-Ranks with the kiddies for making an unauthorized offer, but the Hokage would understand.

"Does that offer stand regardless of success or failure?"

He dipped her, speaking as he leaned over. "It'll stand if both teams survive forty eight hours."

Konan responded as they rose back up, "make it twelve hours."

He didn't really have a choice at this point, he was definitely looking at more D-Ranks, "twelve hours."

She smirked, there was about a minute left in the song. "Tempting, but I'm not sure if I want to blow up any potential deals my team made for that."

She had complete control and they both knew it. Ame had options, Konoha didn't. Kakashi found himself uttering the worst words anyone could say in a negotiation: "What do you want?"

The smirk turned into a grin, "Any intelligence you may have on Sabaku no Gaara."

Konoha had a few stolen mission reports and a reasonable attempt at creating a psychological profile. Not much, but likely more than anything Ame had. Still sharing any intelligence with another nation, even information that would likely be public knowledge when the Games began was generally grounds for imprisonment. But the reports were given to him to distribute at his discretion. That may have been intended only in regards to the five genin he had with him on the mission, but he technically had the legal power to give it to whoever he saw fit. The song was at it's last few notes.

"I'll send a courier tomorrow." D-Ranks for the next three months.

The song ended, and various couples left and entered the dance floor as the musicians began to prepare for the next one. Konan's grin was now a full on smile as she broke contact from him. "Well then I believe we have a deal." Without a doubt this was a skilled and dangerous woman.

With that statement, she turned around and proceeded to walk off the dance floor. Kakashi prepared to return to the throngs of potential sponsors, but found the same samurai who was following him earlier blocking his path. Looked like he was getting kicked out of the party early. Well if that was the only punishment Kakashi received for all his actions tonight than he'd be happy. It probably wouldn't be though.

The first battle of the Games are over, and Taki has found itself the inadvertent winners. Next time, in preparation for the Games, every Candidate gets their training scores, to boost their status and help the gamblers set up their odds. Some are a little happier with their scores than others.

Sorry forgot I forgot I posted the story here. Gonna keep uploading chapters from A03 in the next few days, got a little less than half the chapters there up here right now.