Chapter 20
(A week later.)
Naruto stood in front of the sandaime beside Kakashi sensei and team Baki, waiting for the old man to say whatever it is he needed to say so she could go back to her lab and make a new poison, then find someone to try it on.
Hiruzen took a breath of his pipe before placing it down and taking his standard pose behind the desk, “Well I’m sure you’re all anxious to get this over with so I won’t delay this anymore than I already have. The treaty between our two nations is almost complete to my own amazement and to the amazement of my old teammates. All that is left is for a copy of it to be taken to Suna so your council may also get a say in what we have said. Those outside of tem Baki who came from Suna all returned to your village safely as promised and after today you will all be able to leave and return home yourselves.
“Of course that will come with the condition that both Gaara and Temari come and visit us often which Naruto and Temari’s chosen fiancé will also do. Have you chosen who you agree to marry or not yet?” he asked yet she knew he already knew the answer to that.
“I am afraid I have not yet chosen who I wish to marry however I will still come regularly and stay for longer durations because of that. I will get to know the potential boys a bit more then give my answer.” She bowed her head deeply to the sandaime and he simply chuckled.
“That is quite agreeable and admirable of you Temari. We thank you for your cooperation.” He inclined his head slightly and continued, “We will have a large apartment chosen and maintained for the two of you to stay in whenever you come to Konoha in the shinobi district. In fact, Naruto have you chosen one yet?” he looked to his surrogate granddaughter who nodded her head and gave him a scroll.
“It’s in the building across Kakashi sensei’s own apartment and is the top one, the largest one there with three large bedrooms, a storage room, a wash room, a kitchen, small dining area and a living room. There is a training ground only five minutes away if you travel via the rooftops and it has a beautiful view of the village.” she stated looking to the two siblings who would be staying there. She looked to the sandaime who nodded his head and she handed them over their keys, “These are the keys to the apartment. I also have a key and the manager of the building has a master key so we can come in regularly to make sure everything is kept well in your absence. If you’re uncomfortable with me having the key, whenever you come to Konoha I will give you my key to make you more comfortable.” They both shook their heads and with that, the four teenagers left the building.
Once out of the building Naruto attempted to make a quick escape however Temari wasn’t having it, “Naruto. Why don’t the four of us go and get something to eat?”
She cursed not using her hiraishin and simply nodded her head, “Why don’t we head over to the Akimichi restaurant? They have a wide variety of food options there.” They all nodded and silently they made their way to the restaurant.
Once there she spotted team 10 and called to them, “So Shika, how does it feel being a chunin?” she asked teasingly as she draped her arm over his shoulders.
He grunted however before he could reply, someone did it for him, “Troublesome, I’d bet.” Spoke Temari as she and her siblings stood in a line.
Ino pointed her chopsticks to her, “How’d you guess?” she asked sarcastically however there was no malice behind her words.
“I’ve spent more than five minutes with this guy. Troublesome is the most common word I’ve heard him say.”
“You may have tried to attack the village- but I like you.” Ino replied and Naruto snorted.
“Ino, you like anyone with blonde hair and a snarky attitude.” She replied as smiled at them before getting a table for the four of them.
After making their orders the spoke, “Soo… uh, Gaara will be staying here in the village for a few weeks then he’ll be returning to Suna. I’ll most likely be coming in a few weeks but I could come sooner.” Temari said.
Naruto leaned closer and fake whispered, “I know a lot of people here in Konoha say you and Shika are dating already.” She gave Temari a wink and the elder blonde’s face flushed red.
“We-we are not dating!” she yelled as she stood up, causing majority of the restaurants occupants to look at them, which in turn caused her to turn as red as Gaara’s hair.
“I’m not trying to be rude or anything like that, Gaara, I love the idea of you staying here in Konoha loger. Truly I do. But what’s the point when I’m being dispatched for a mission which will last a week tomorrow?” Naruto asked as he took a hold of her hand.
‘You and my brother’s host are being awfully mushy the last two days.’
‘Please don’t say it like that. It makes it sound like incest.’ She groaned.
‘You are from a clan foolish ningen. Incest is not a bad thing within clans.’
‘That doesn’t mean you get to corrupt our relationship like that!’ she glared as he simply bared his teeth in a sneer like smile.
‘I can do as I please.’
‘No you can’t. You’re stuck inside me and will stay there till you apologise.’ She replied, crossing her arms.
‘You. Wouldn’t. Dare.’
She quirked a brow, ‘Oh. Yes. I. Would.’
Kurama released a growl and she decided to leave her mindscape and chuckled in reality, to which the sand siblings stared at her confusedly.
“I was talking to the nine tails.” She stated with a shrug of her shoulders.
Before anyone could comment their food all arrived and was given to them, once they were free of their waiters Kankuro asked, “Does that happen often? You talking to the fox demon?”
She nodded and swallowed before replying, “Yeah, Kurama and I talk a lot. We don’t tend to have very long conversations and sometimes it’s like time freezes when we do speak so it can be a bit odd.”
They seemed even more confused than before but thankfully dropped it.
.
.
.
Two and a half weeks later, Team 7 could be found together eating at Ichiraku together after having completed their mission in Tanzaku Gai. A simple mission to collect as much information as possible which should have only taken a week or so had taken double the amount of time as not many people there had the information they needed.
Overall it had been exhausting, each of them wearing disguises and having to play roles given by the sandaime. Naruto had found the situation a little funny considering Kakashi was in line for the title of godaime yet he had been sent for a mission outside of the village.
She sighed wistfully as she thought about what she had started, she had begun making her own spy network. Granted she had started it when she and team 7 had first left the village however now her network was branching out. She couldn’t wait for it to be the size of Jiraiya’s yet she knew it was going to take years if not a decade for it to get to that size.
A familiar voice bought her out of her musings as she turned around, “Naruto?”
She looked up and saw Temari standing next to Neji and TenTen, she assumed Gai sensei and Lee weren’t far away. She gave them all a smile and a waved, “Hey Temari, Neji, TenTen. How’s it going’?”
They all took their seats on the table next to theirs and TenTen replied, “It’s alright. Temari here looked so bored out of her mind in training ground 8 we decided to have mercy on her and asked her to join us for training.”
Naruto and Kakashi both raised a brow, “I think it might have been more merciful to not include her for Gai sensei’s training.”
Those who understood chuckled at her comment, TenTen simply shrugged her shoulders, “It wasn’t that bad Naruto. I think they went easy on me since I’m a foreign ninja.” Replied Temari with a chuckle afterwards.
Just as they received their menu, two spandex clad males entered the stand and gave their good guy pose, the beach genjutsu behind them again as Gai tried to talk Kakashi into a spar.
Team 7 shook their heads with Team 9, their sensei’s sometimes reminded them of children and team 7 got up just as Temari spoke, “Oh right, Naruto, Gaara came back to the village yesterday. He left for Suna two days after you left for your mission and arrived expecting you to be here already yet we were both shocked to see you weren’t here. So right now he’s somewhere in the village. I’m just not sure where.”
She gave Temari a smile, “No worries, I’m a sage and jinchuriki. I can feel his chakra if I try to locate it.”
With that, team 7 left the tent and went their own ways, everyone but herself going to their homes whereas she went to look for Gaara.