Chapter 21
Naruto found Gaara sitting in her spot atop of the yondaime’s head wearing the same outfit she had last seen him in.
“You know… you really should wear something other than your shinobi garbs here in Konoha since you’re not on official duty…” she spoke as she sat behind him, arms resting on his shoulders.
He tipped his head back a bit and gave her a small smile, “Welcome back Naruto.” Hearing his gravelly voice caused her to involuntarily shiver as she swallowed.
She had been away from him for two and a half weeks, however he had stayed in her dreams, in her visions and stayed in her mind during her mission. It hadn’t been easy to focus when she could practically hear him in her head all the time.
Nevertheless she gave him a wide smile in return and the two of them chose to sit in silence together as they watched the village bustle with life below them.
“The people here… are very kind. Despite everything we did-”
“You didn’t do anything bad. At least as far as the civilian populace is concerned. When it came to attacking Konoha, you chose to attack Oto instead. Sure, our shinobi know you planned coup against us but they also know you didn’t go through with it. Most people here see it as you gave Orochimaru as a gift to us.” She chuckled at the thought.
She had seen Orochimaru all tied up and locked in the dungeon with three ANBU and two hunters guarding him at all times. The sennin looked miffed to say the least.
“How are you though Gaara? Is everything alright in Suna?” she asked, genuinely concerned since she could still see the black marks under his eyes.
“I am fine.” He leaned his head against her chest and she said nothing, simply raked her hand through his red locks, “And as for Suna… there is nothing wrong there. The treaty document was signed just a few days ago by all members of the council, no one dared to change a thing the sandaime wrote, stating he was being far more merciful than we deserved.”
She decided not to correct him on his comment and instead specified on her first question, “Are you sleeping alright?”
“I am, I just simply do not sleep for very many hours at a time, an old habit due to Shukaku that I doubt will go any time soon.” She nodded in understanding.
“Old habits die hard. It’s a bit like my bad habits which I still do. Stuff like my experimenting and such.” She looked down and saw his eyes were closed and his breathing had levelled having fallen asleep and gave smiled at the sight.
They were found in that pose, Gaara leaning into her chest as she massaged his scalp, as Hayate and Yugao reached the top of the yondaime’s head. They both bowed and Hayate spoke, “We received you message via your summons to come find you, my lady.”
She blinked before recalling she had indeed sent out of her gama to pass the message along the day before, stating she wished to see them. “I wanted to see if the medication I put you on had been working? And if you have been taking it as I told you to.” She looked to both of them.
Hayate may have been several years older than Yugao however the girl was far more responsible in regards to Hayate’s health.
His reply was slightly more hushed than before, “I feel almost like before. I hardly ever cough, there is no burning sensation in my stomach and I can keep all my food down. I’ve been training with Yugao as well, and I don’t feel winded nor as tiered as I was before either.”
“He’s been taking his medication after waking up, with each meal and snack as well as before bed, making it every three or so hours.” Naruto nodded her head.
She was glad he was feeling better and said so, the two of them leaving after bowing to her, thanking her once again, leaving Naruto with a sleeping Gaara.
Two hours passed which was when he woke up, his head in Naruto’s lap as she read a fuinjutsu scroll. She didn’t know he had woken up, she was that engrossed, and only noticed when she felt his fingers on her face and his other hand sifting through her open shoulder-length hair.
“Good morning sleepy head. Did you sleep alright?” she asked and teased at the same time, a small smile on her face as she looked between him and her scroll.
He didn’t reply, instead focusing on her hair. She had cut it in Tanzaku Gai. She had a fringe in the middle of her hair and on the right, it was spiked up a bit and the left side was clipped with three different hair clips. The rest of her hair was simply flowing down however now you could see her earring in her left ear. Each one red with a swirl, indicating how many levels the sealing arts she had mastered. There was 15 in total to master and she had 8, which even for an Uzumaki was impressive, however she wouldn’t be that far ahead without the aid of her shadowclones.
“I didn’t notice your ear piercings before.”
“Hardly anyone did so I thought changing my hair style will get people to see. I’m not a very vain person, however these show how far ahead I am in fuinjutsu and I’d like people to see that. To see the kyuubi jinchuriki amount to more than a frontline attacker.” He nodded in understanding. Here in Konoha people didn’t see him as a weapon but as a person, it was a nice change compared to back in Suna.
“How long are you staying here on Konoha for?” she asked when neither of them said a thing after a few minutes.
He sighed and stretched slightly, “I leave tomorrow afternoon. We still have no kazekage and we will have none till my siblings and I all become chunin. Once that is done, we will have a fight to see who is the strongest or wisest and that person will become kazekage.”
She gave it some thought, “So Temari stands on equal footing for becoming kazekage then?”
“Not really. One needs to vote of the council and whilst Temari is a formidable foe and diplomat, the people on the council are old and do not think a woman should rule a village.”
She chuckled at that logic, “If women were kage there would be no wars. Just villages not talking to each other.” Gaara joined her in her laughter as he thought about five female kage not talking to each other.
“There is also the fact Temari will have to marry a Konoha clan heir and she will have to spend most of her time in Konoha because of that. She cannot becoe Kazekage. In that case it will me be Kankuro and myself fighting for the seat and as I am stronger it is more likely that I will get the seat. However, equally as I am stronger, he has more allies on the council, so we are on equal footing.”
“Suna democracy is so much more interesting than Konoha. Here we have a meeting and discuss who will make a good kage but there a certain criteria’s that need to be met. One is you need to have a relationship with a previous kage. Whether it be friend, teammate, teacher, family or significant other. Then you need to have a reputation across the nations and lastly a relationship with the kyuubi jinchuriki. The shodai was married to the first jinchuriki, then the nidaime was her sister in law, the sandaime often went to the home of Lady Mito and was her friend, the yondaime was married to the jinchuriki, my mother. It’s that sole reason Danzo has little standing to become godaime. I have no relationship with the man so he cannot claim the seat.” She let out a cold laugh thinking about how annoyed the old war hawk must be because of that little fact.
Gaara’s teal eyes gleamed as she spoke about their system causing her breath to hitch. She had always been fascinated with his eyes since the beginning, they drew her in and made her forget everything else.
“I love the colour of your eyes. They were what drew me to you.” She murmured yet he heard her, his cheeks dusted pink yet she ignored it and settled for smiling at him.
“You whisker marks.” He said and she furrowed her brows. “When I saw you it was your whisker marks that caught my attention.”
She laughed at that, those were usually the last thing people noticed. It was usually her bright hair or her eyes and then her whisker marks. “Those are the marks I’ve had since birth, marking that one of my parents was the kyuubi jinchuriki.”
He hummed and replied in a quiet tone, “So… if we ever had a child, they would have your whisker marks.”
She could feel her face heat at his gaze and question yet she nodded, “Yeah. I hope you’re prepared Gaara. I’m an orphan so you should be warned that I want a big family.” She whispered as she placed her forehead to his, a small smile on her face as she thought about it.