Meeting by the Gate
A team led by Yamato was escorting Ayame to the village hidden in the clouds.
The members of the team consisted of Naruto, Sakura, Sai, her guards, and counselors. The journey from the Hidden Leaf to the Hidden Cloud took five days. On the morning of the fifth day, they had crossed the border, and by the evening had almost reached the gate of the Hidden Cloud. Suddenly someone jumped in front of the carriage and guards. The guards stood by the carriage while the shinobi placed themselves in front of everyone.
The figure appeared to be a tall man with dark sunglasses and a big sword on his back. Ayame did not move, she recognized his chakra, and the second Naruto spotted him, he cried out in greeting, “Hey, Octopops! Long time no see!”
The shinobi guards relaxed at the greeting. The man greeted back, barely not shouting, “Yo Naruto, good to see ya!”
The second they were next to each other, they fist-bumped. Bee then saw the guards and the carriage where Ayame sat alongside her attendant and Sakura, but they were hidden out of view.
Bee began to speak “Naruto man who is-”. Bee froze as he heard a loud voice from the gate, Bee did not get to ask about who was in the carriage. He stood there frozen and started to stutter as he recognized the powerful voice.
“Beeee where are you?! You missed the meeting AGAIN!,” the booming voice belonged to his older brother Ay, who was fuming. He came into view and charged at Bee like an angry bull.
“You idiot, taste my iron claw!'' Ay shouted as he pressed Bee’s head down.
“B-but brother Naruto and his team are here w-with a carriage,” Bee said to make his brother aware of the presence of Naruto and the others. Ay straightened up and released Bee from his stronghold. A light of recognition and awareness dawned upon his face as he turned to the guests.
“Ah yes, Naruto, he and his team are here to escort the ambassador. You would have known this Bee if you ever attended a meeting.” Ay said as he shot one last angry glare at Bee before facing Yamato.
Ay asked Yamato, “I hope that the trip went well, Yamato.”
Yamato answered with a little smile, “Of course, Raikage. Everything went well, and the ambassador and the team have arrived here safely.”
“The ambassador must be tired so I can show him to the embassy,” Ay said to Yamato, but before he could answer, a strong and crystal clear voice could be heard from the opening of the carriage.
“SHE is indeed tired so that would be very much appreciated.” Ay, and the others turned their heads to the carriage. They saw a woman with long pale blond hair, dressed in a beautiful white kimono with black and golden cranes, come outside closely followed by Sakura and an elderly woman.
Ay glared at the woman. He thought she looked awfully familiar to someone he knew. Then he saw her piercing eyes and the firm determination behind them.
He could not believe his eyes as it dawned on him. No one had told him that the ambassador is the adopted granddaughter of the third Hokage and Tsunade's one and only child with her fellow sannin Jiraiya.
The Hokage had sent her daughter to the Cloud as an ambassador. The Raikage was bewildered by her choice and let his mind wonder, ‘ Why would the fifth Hokage send her daughter, as an ambassador? ’ Frozen he stood, letting his thoughts run wild for a minute.
From what he had heard, the fifth and third Hokage had been very protective toward the young woman all her life. Tsunade had left her in the village for her safety when she traveled from city to city. The third had taken her in and protected and taught her from a young age. This girl is the biological descendant of the first and fifth Hokage and the adopted granddaughter of the third Hokage. ‘Why of all the places was she sent here? Of course, it is an honor to have her here, but then again, why is the so-called princess of the hidden leaf here? ’ he thought.
The team looked at Ay, who had yet to exit his thoughts. Ayame smiled to herself as she saw his face. She had not mentioned anything, on purpose, about who from the hidden leaf would take the place of ambassador in his village. She held her head high as she saw that he began to react again. Ay blinked slowly, noticing that they had turned their focus back to him. He forced a cough and said to Ayame, “Of course, come and I will show you.” He turned to his brother and his team that had followed him.
“Darui, Cee, take Naruto and his team to the guest wing.”
Ayame went back into the carriage as it started to move. The Raikage walked in front of everyone, alongside Yamato and his right hand, Darui. They were closely followed by Naruto, Bee, and Cee, and in the back were the carriage and the ambassador's guards. As they walked down the street, many of the people stared as they passed. Some tried to get closer to see the ambassador, but the Raikage did not stop and the people were left to wonder who the ambassador was.
Ay took them to the newly built and furnished embassy in the Raikage's residence.
The shinobi gathered by the entrance. The carriage stopped and Sakura and Misato jumped out before Ayame. Misato reached out her hand and made sure that Ayame’s kimono did not get stuck. “Thank you Misato,” Ayame said as she walked toward the building. Misato nodded and, after speaking to the guard, she followed them. The guards walked behind them, carrying their belongings to their room in the building.
The ninja team that had followed her would stay in the village for three days before returning to the hidden leaf. Naruto was excited to be with Bee before he returned home. When Ayame dismissed her escorts, Bee dragged Naruto off into the city. Sakura stayed behind to help Misato and Sai and Yamato tried to follow Bee and Naruto when they left.
Ayame then turned to Ay and the remaining people.
“Care to show me around the embassy, Raikage?” Ayame gave a little smile and walked toward the Raikage. She kept her hands to herself and avoided contact.
“Of course, Ambassador. If you would follow me,” He said in a deep and calm voice. The air was thick with tension and Ayame could feel the distance between her and the Raikage, but soon they would become more familiar with each other. She would make sure of it. That evening Ayame returned to her room and barely slept. However, right before dawn a dreamless sleep soon took her in, as her eyes slowly closed.
During the first day in the village, Ayame got her belongings placed in her room and had a tour of the town. She got to see the sights and meet the people. The Team, alongside Ayame tried out restaurants in the village center.
On the second day, they visited different shops and also tried to attend one of Bee’s concerts, but he barely made it through the first song. Ayame found it quite amusing that his brother, the Raikage, crashed the concert and put Bee in a headlock before ordering Bee’s team to stop the event.
The look on his face told it all. He really had a short temper, especially towards Bee’s rapping. You could see the bulging blood vessels in his temple and on his hands as he held Bee’s head. He did not hurt Bee but made him understand that today was not the best day to annoy him.
Ayame could not hold it in. She began to lightly giggle and the Raikage wiped his head around to see who was laughing at him and his brother. Only to be surprised that it was the Ambassador. She had a light and airy laugh that was barely noticeable when he was surrounded by people.
The Raikage was again rooted to the spot. Why had his body stopped? He was only able to look at Ayame. Until he once again was interrupted.
“Bro… are you a-okay,” Bee said as he noticed his brother’s stiff body and glare.
The older brother turned his head and told him “Yes, I was just checking something”
He tried to look toward Ayame again, but she and her team had left and the crowd around them was too thick to see which way they were walking.
He closed his eyes as he turned to Bee, “You will clean up this mess instantly and if you have too much free time I got plenty of missions for you.” he told Bee in a loud and annoyed voice before turning on his heels and leaving. The Raikage went back to his office but Bee stood there in fright, taking in the words his brother had told him.
Bee’s team had long ago begun to clean and move things.
After gathering his thoughts, Bee joined the cleaning, knowing that he would be punished if he did not do it.