The New Otokage

Chapter 3: Signing the treaty:

“Welcome to the new hidden city of the Sound” Sasuke said in his usual cool tone as he bowed to his quest from the other hidden villages.

He let his eyes search the room hoping to find the grinning blonde between the guests. But there was no blue-eyed blonde except Kira-chan and it made his heart ache even though his face didn’t show.

“If I may give a presentation of our guest, Otokage-sama?” Kira stepped forward as the Uchiha sat down at the end of the oval wooden table.

Sasuke nodded at her in acceptance and she continued on.

“From the hidden village of the Sand…Suna-Gakure…. We are welcoming; Lady Temari of the Sand, sister of the 5th Kazekage Sabaku no Gaara, and her attendants’; Lord Baki and Lady Matsuri as our honored guests.” Temari rose to her feet and bowed to the Otokage together with her subordinates, as their names were mentioned. Sasuke rose to feet as well and bowed to her in acknowledge of her presence.

“From the hidden city of the Leaf…Konoha-Gakure…We are welcoming Lady Hyuuga Hinata, Lord Hyuuga Neji and their attendant; Lord Hatake Kakashi…as our honored guests!” The blonde woman continued to announce the representatives from each of the hidden villages, but Sasuke lost his interest in the remaining guest, as he found himself staring into his former sensei’s visible eye as he bowed towards him.

Sasuke suddenly longed to talk to Kakashi, just like they did the old days. He wanted to ask him a lot of things…. to catch up on the past five years and ask him about the Dobe´s absence and whereabouts.

If anyone would have a lead upon what Naruto-kun was doing… it would be Kakashi or Iruka… and because Kakashi had a crush on Iruka…. Well he would most likely know if Iruka heard anything about the blonde shinobi.

~ # ~

All the talking, back and forth, about the contents of the treaty was making the raven-haired Otokage weary as well as bored. He leaned back in his chair and let the elders of Oto-Gakure deal with the bickering about the details before the actual signing of the peace treaty.

Finally, after almost three hours of discussions and a lot of bickering, everyone came to an acceptable agreement on the old and new rules between the hidden villages.

The Sound had to give the other villages full access to the hidden tunnels of the old Oto-Gakure and
Would have to accept surveillance from an Anbu team form Konoha and the Sand for a year to show their good will.

Sasuke signed as he felt relieved as all the involved parties had signed the treaty that ensured peace and cooperation between the hidden cities. He wasn’t happy about the fact that there would be Anbu teams from the other nations to spy on him and snoop around in Orochimaru´s old lair… but nothing was never easy… and if it was what it took to be accepted an let alone… well then so be it.

Now he could focus his attention towards other matters, such as the thriving of his city and finding a certain blonde boy and bring him to see the city and hopefully convince the Dobe to stay as his lover. I can’t make him give up on his dream to become Hokage, Sasuke thought sadly… That would be selfish of me to even suggest it… but I want him to be mine so badly it hurts.

“Otokage-sama?” Sasuke felt a familiar hand on his shoulder as the blonde girl touched him.

“Is something wrong? Sasuke-sama?” she whispered so that he was the only one to hear her voice.

He looked at her with a sad expression in his dark eyes. He rose to his feet and forced himself to smile.

“I want to thank you all for coming… this will be a start of an era of peace for all of us. Let us forget about the mistakes of the past and create a bright future together.” He saw nods and approving smiles from the faces around the table.

“Thank you, Otokage-sama, we to, are looking forward to a prosperous future,” Hinata smiled to him from across the table.

The other ambassadors nodded and muttered similar replies even though Sasuke feared that Hinata was the only one that actually meant what she said.

“Thank you very much…. we are looking forward to see you all at the next Chunin-exam in Konoha-Gakure.” Kira bowed and smiled at the leaving guests as the meeting was dissolved.

“Excuse me Lady Hinata, Lord Neji-sama and Lord Kakashi would you mind to follow me? Uchiha-sama would like that you all stayed for dinner this evening… it would please the Otokage a lot.” Kira gave them a warm smile.

“Thank you for the invitation, but… ” Neji replied, but his cousin cut him off.

“We would of course be honored to have dinner with the Otokage, Kira-san,” Hinata gave her lover a firm glare as she smiled at the blonde girl.

“Ah thank you…. I will arrange rooms for you, so you will be able to freshen up before dinner is served…. This way please.” Kira showed their guest to their rooms before leaving them alone.

~ # ~

“I don’t trust him… even if he is the Otokage… the Uchiha´s still a treacherous bastard!”

“Neji-kun, behave you self,” Hinata looked a bit angry, her arms crossed over her chest.

Kakashi raised his eyebrows and smiled under his mask. “This wont do us any good kids!” he said mischievously and closed the 4th book of the Icha Icha Paradise series and signed.
“He wants to talk to us…. That’s a good thing… I think.”

“I think so to, I say we listen to what he has to say…. Perhaps he wants to talk about the past?” Hinata said quietly.

~ # ~

Please let this moment last forever, the Kazekage whished as he continued to hug the taller blonde. This feeling of the strong tanned arms that embraced the red-head made him so happy. His mind screamed at him to kiss the blonde…. to make him his… but how could he… they were both males… and the Sand-leader was not very familiar with emotions or close body contact, because of the Shukaku.

Gaara had never been the social kind of guy… but as he had encountered the blonde the first time after the Chunin exams, something had begun to change inside of him… it had scared him at first but as time had passed he had decided that this feeling had to be that kind of loving friendship that his uncle had told him about as he was a child.

The only medicine to heal a broken heart was love… yes Gaara believed in that and by the time that he had become the Kazekage he had learned to value friendship and family bonds.

Naruto broke the embrace and looked the Kazekage in the eyes.

“Gaara-sama… is something wrong? You look troubled!” The blonde looked at him with care in his blue eyes.

Gaara felt his face blush as warm azure blue eyes looked at him. Unable to face the blonde, he turned his attention to the stony floor.

Then something had happened as he was kidnapped by the Akatsuki that made Gaara think of the blonde as more than a friend.

The Konoha shinobi had risked his own life to retrieve his dead body… he had been dead… and still the young blonde had persuaded Deidara to reclaim his body… to at lest bring him home. Nobody had ever done something like that for him before… to put their own lives over his.

It had filled him with an overwhelming feeling that could best be described as bubbling warmth that just grew and grew inside of him until he felt on the verge to burst.

“Gaara are you alright?” strong hands cupped his cheeks, slowly lifting his face and made pale eyes meet blue ones.

Why was his heart racing like a that every time the blonde looked back at him, why did he feel like he could take on the whole world if the tanned male smiled at him and why did his body get this warm pulsing feeling that swelled up inside of him every time they touched each other… this wasn’t normal… was it?

“Gaara…? What is wrong with you… did I do something wrong? Damn… Please answer me!” Naruto pleaded for an answer, confused to see the red-head in such a sad mood.

Gaara stared into caring blue eyes. He was insecure for a moment but then he made up his mind; if I don’t try I’ll never know if he likes me or not.

And with that thought, he leaned forward, softly pressing his lips against the soft pink lips of the blonde male in front of him.

He felt the blonde startle at the kiss. Oh no… he doesn’t like me like this, Gaara felt a stinging pain in his chest as he feared resentment. He began to break the kiss as he felt a pair of strong arms around his waist-line… dragging him closer.