Chapter 42

Naruto appeared with Gaara and Temari rights outside the gates that led into his home. Both of them blinked at the sudden travel, after which their minds caught up, followed by their bodies. Temari immediately turned and glared at a smirking Naruto, while Gaara deadpanned at him.

"A warning would have been nice, you know," she almost growled at him.

Naruto sheepishly rubbed the back of his head and chuckled. It was the first time someone ever complained about instantaneous travel.

"Don't ever do that again," Gaara said in his deadpan.

Naruto rose an eyebrow in return. "You mean to say you don't like traveling from one place to another in an instant?"

The narrowing of eyes was the only answer that Gaara gave, but Naruto refrained from smirking in his silent victory at the argument. It was then Temari spoke up. "Wait, where's Kankuro?"

Naruto's eyes widened for a second, before he disappeared in a flash, returning instantly with the aforementioned person. The puppet fighter turned and indignantly pointed a finger at Naruto. "You forgot about me!"

Naruto shrugged, "My bad."

He then walked up to the gates and pressed his hand to let the seals recognize his chakra. The seals glowed and the gate opened up, giving everyone a view of the house inside.

Gaara was impassive as ever, but Kankuro was gaping in wonder at the house. Temari also gazed in awe at the residence, but hers was less than her idiotic brother. She had known that with Naruto being the head to two clans, wealth was never a problem for him. Naruto smirked at their reactions and gestured with his hands. "Shall we head inside?"

They all went inside the gates, and this time Temari couldn't conceal a gasp. The compound was even more beautiful, with a small square pond in front of the house. The house in question was quite big, easily big enough to be called a mansion. And the garden, with its healthy grass and flowers seemed to be well cared for.

Naruto led them all inside, further surprising Temari and Kankuro. Gaara maintained his impassive look, but even he admitted to be impressed on the inside. The living room was very spacious and while looked very lavish, it still gave off a homey feeling.

The kitchen also looked newly furbished, and was connected to the living room. Naruto walked into the center of the living room, right in front of the sofas and living room and clapped twice for attention.

"Alright, listen up!"

The three siblings turned to him, frowning in confusion. "First order of business, I'm telling you where you're gonna sleep."

He turned to Temari, who looked a bit anxious. His look softened and he said, "Temari, while we may know each other," he ignored Gaara's raised eyebrow and Kankuro's sputters, "I doubt you want us to sleep together. So we are going to be sleeping in separate rooms."

Kankuro interrupted him. "Wait, what about you and my sister-"

"So here are the facts," Naruto continued as if the guy hadn't even spoken, "There are a total of three bedrooms upstairs. The master bedroom, which is mine, is at the end of the corridor. There are two guest bedrooms, one of which will be Temari's." He turned to Gaara, "You two either could bunk together or-"

"Kankuro can have it. I don't sleep," Gaara stated.

Naruto frowned, but shrugged. "Have it your way then. Guess you are lucky, doll boy, you get to sleep in a bed instead of the couch."

Kankuro sputtered again as Naruto kept on talking. He turned to Gaara and said, "Remind me to fix your seal one of these days."

After everyone had been introduced to their rooms, Naruto called them down again and said, "Alright, now that the accommodations have been set, here's the thing. Either you can train in the grounds behind the house, or you can roam around Konoha with my clone as a guide to show you the hot spots."

Kankuro asked accusingly. "Why a clone?"

Naruto turned his face towards him with a raised eyebrow. "I hope you don't mind, but I'd like to spend the day with my fiancée. That is, if she is willing," he asked her, to which she gave a small nod and walked up to him, poking his chest.

"We need to have a talk."

"We don't mind, Naruto. We will take your clone as a guide," Gaara said before Kankuro really started to grill Naruto. The talk his sister wanted to have sounded important.

Just as he finished speaking, a clone popped up beside Naruto. "Have fun, you two."

With that, Naruto grabbed Temari and disappeared.

XXXXXXX

Naruto and Temari spent the rest of the day just roaming around, talking about just general things, getting to know each other better, or they went to a restaurant and had lunch, or trained.

The day passed very quickly for both of them, and soon they found themselves sitting on the head of Naruto's father, overlooking the village. Naruto was leaning against a spike of hair, with Temari leaning into his right side, head rested on shoulder, with Naruto's arm wrapped around her shoulder. She had her fan rested against another spike nearby. Both of them were enjoying the peace and quiet.

"I could get used to this," Temari murmured, shifting so she was closer then before.

Naruto was more than happy to let her. "Yeah, me too."

Silence reigned for a short while again, which was then broken by Naruto. "Temari…do you think this could work?"

Temari lifted her head from Naruto's shoulder to look him in the eyes. She knew exactly what he was talking about: whether this marriage could work or not. She sighed, Naruto always seemed to go straight to the point, without beating around the bush. Not that she had a problem with that.

"To be honest, even I had this question on my mind ever since I was told about this," she told him, watching him nod in return.

She began to blush as she spoke, "I know that I liked you, spending time in your company. I had developed these…..feelings, for you that I had never felt before, towards anyone. I like you, but I am unsure whether these feelings are enough to…."

She couldn't exactly find the words to express how she truly felt. Naruto just nodded, "It's ok. I understand. Something like that is difficult to put into words. How about we talk this another way?"

Temari turned to him with a quizzical look. "What do you mean?"

Naruto tilted his head to he was directly facing Temari. She was very close to him, the physical contact they had at the moment would have made him blush anytime, but the conversation was serious. "You know, when I found out that we were supposed to be enemies… I just couldn't come to terms with that fact. My feelings were so strong for you that…. I almost couldn't make my mind up on what would I do if I were to face you in the war?"

Temari didn't say anything, just nodding him to continue. But her eyes were a bit blurrier than before.

Naruto forced any hesitance back. He needed to get this out of his system. "My feelings for you and duty to the village were in conflict. If I chose you, then my village would kill me. The village that was entrusted to me by my parents. Abandoning it meant spitting on what they did to protect me."

A single tear flowed from Temari's right eye. "W-What do you mean, "entrusted" to you?"

Naruto's reply was monotonous. "I'm the jinchuriki of the kyuubi."

That reply almost made Temari choke on her own spit. Naruto was the jinchuriki of the kyuubi?! How and when the hell did that happen?!

Then she remembered the conversations between her and Naruto before the invasion. Naruto had told her that the village had very few people that actually cared about him. No wonder Gaara held Naruto in such high regard, they could almost be brothers in suffering.

Then she remembered something. The Yondaime had seemingly "killed" the kyuubi years ago. But masses of chakra can't be killed, and Naruto just revealed that the kyuubi was living inside him, which meant…

"Oh kami," she breathed out. This was too much news to be dealt with at one time. To think the Yondaime sealed the kyuubi inside his own son? To protect the village, he sacrificed his own family?!

Tears were freely flowing out by now. Naruto was sugarcoating it when he said that he had been entrusted with the village. The Yondaime Hokage had sealed the fate of his own son by making him the kyuubi's jailor. It was frightening how many similarities were popping up between Gaara and Naruto. Their father had sealed Shukaku into Gaara, trying to make him into a weapon. Naruto's father had done the same, except he had done so with a hope that Naruto would use the power to protect the village.

"Why?"

The word was whispered, because Temari was openly crying by now. A look full of concern came across Naruto's face as he pulled Temari into his lap. He gently grabbed her face with his hands and brushed off her tears with his thumbs, speaking in a slightly pleading tone. "Please don't cry, hime. I don't like it when you cry."

Temari held Naruto's hands with her own. "What kind of father would condemn his own son to a life such as that?"

Naruto smiled slightly and put his forehead against hers. "The kind that loved his village with all his heart. The kind whose morals refused to let him use someone else's child if he couldn't use his own." He gave a soft kiss to Temari on her lips, feeling the unique taste that was so her. "The kind that trusted his son above everyone else."

Temari gave a watery smile and shook her head. "You are something else, Naruto."

Naruto chuckled and continued. "Anyways, we got off topic. As I was saying, if I chose you, then the village would kill me. If I chose you, I would never have been able to live with myself with the knowledge that Konoha could, or worse, did, kill you and there was something I could have done something about it and I didn't."

Temari's face was unreadable, and just as Naruto was starting to fear that he had spoken something wrong, she asked, "But you still chose me over the village. Why?"

Naruto frowned as he tried to find a way to phase his answer. "I felt this sort of…..connection, for the lack of a better word, between us. We just seemed to sort of ….click. I felt like….. I won't ever be able to act like when I was with you with anyone else."

Temari looked at him, trying to find something he didn't know, and then slowly hugged him. It was a warm hug, and she was sitting sideways in his lap so not exactly perfect, but it still made him smile.

"Perhaps love does not need words to express itself," Temari murmured.

She pulled back from the hug and stared into Naruto's confused eyes. "Because love is a language in itself."

It was at this moment, that both of them knew that they cared for each other on a level that went deeper than what they thought. It was love, but neither of them were sure enough to admit it. Naruto nodded with a smile, "We can make this work."

Temari agreed wholeheartedly with a smile. "We can make this work."

Naruto had a thought and asked her, "So, what do we do now? Dinner time is still half an hour away."

Temari thought for a moment and asked, "Will we be eating out?"

Naruto shook his head. "I was thinking I would treat you all to some homemade food. Actually, that gives me an idea."

He formed a half ram seal and five clones popped up. He turned towards one clone, "Go to Gaara and Kankuro, tell them to meet me at the house in exactly one hour."

The clone nodded and vanished in a blue flash. Turning to the other four, he gave his orders, "You four start preparing the dinner at home."

The four clones nodded and vanished in a similar manner as the one before. Temari hummed, impressed. "Those shadow clones seem to be damn useful."

Naruto smirked, "Trust me, they make for great company as well."

Both of them chuckled at the thought of talking to yourself when getting bored. As their chuckles faded, Naruto asked, "So, what do we do now?"

Temari thought and smirked as she thought of the perfect way to spend. She smiled coyly as she leaned forward and planted kisses on Naruto's neck, causing his breath to hitch. "I can think of something."

Naruto was all too happy to indulge her.

Warning: Small lime scene

Naruto turned Temari so he could kiss her lips. Unlike last time, the two immediately engaged in a battle of their tongues without wasting any time. Temari wrapped her arms around his neck to pull herself closer, while he wrapped his arms around her waist to feel her against his body. 'Kami, I have missed this,' was the sole thought running through both of their minds.

The two continued to tongue-wrestle for some time, after which Naruto broke off the lip-lock, only to start kissing her neck, all the while running his hands on Temari's sides and back. Temari released a gasp of pleasure and tilted her head to give him more access. She released a quiet moan when he began to suck on her pulse.

"You've gotten better at this," she managed to breath out.

"I aim to please," he returned easily.

She felt Naruto smile at her compliment as he switched sides. Not only that, since Temari was sitting so she was facing Naruto's left side, his left hand made its way down from her waist, past her hips and onto her legs. Temari's breath hitched again as Naruto began running his hand across the exposed skin of her legs.

"You know, I just love your new wardrobe change," he said in a husky voice. "Brings out your legs way better than the last one."

"Glad to know it was worth it," she said in the same tone of voice. Wow, the hormones really were getting out here.

Internally, she was growling, only because the same effect won't come in the husky voice. She felt that Naruto had switched from submissive to dominating way too quickly!

Well, time to turn the tables.

She grabbed his face with her hands and once again engaged him in a battle of tongues. Only this time, she came out as the victor as she explored every inch of his mouth with her tongue. What she didn't know, was that Naruto was only too happy to let her take control like that. It was then he found out a new thing about himself: he loved girls who had a dominating side to them. Of course, he preferred to be in control during this type of activity, he loved the way how Temari aggressively fought him for control. It really, really turned him on.

Such as now.

Temari felt something poking her right inner thigh. Her brain immediately told her what was poking, and she felt herself smirking against Naruto's lips. She broke off the kiss and smirked at him.

Naruto was surprised when Temari decided to break the lip-lock with him. But when he looked at her face, he had to call on almost all of his willpower to not immediately re-engage their lip-lock. Her entire face was flushed, lips a little swollen from their tongue dueling, and that smirk was damn sexy.

When she spoke, her voice had a sultry tone that he had never heard from her, but he really liked it. "Is that your kunai, or are you just happy to see me?"

With a start Naruto realized that his erection was poking Temari in her thigh, through his clothes. Naruto always knew he was blessed, but times like he wished he had worn thicker clothing. But he refused to be embarrassed. It was his reputation at stake here!

Apparently, Naruto had been silent for longer than Temari liked. But she didn't get annoyed. Quite the opposite, really. She made a rather bold move, adjusting herself on his lap, her leg moving against his "kunai" in the process. She felt her ego swell a little at the groan that Naruto released. "Liked that, didn't you?"

Naruto stared at her with half lidded eyes. "You are evil."

He was not about to let this go without a comeback. He used his right hand to pull her face closer, quickly latching on to her earlobe. The gasp she released was well worth, but he wasn't done yet. His left hand roamed her left inner thigh, stopping and lightly squeezing the bare skin right below her panties. He didn't allow her subsequent moan to distract him, however. His right hand brushed across her left breast, his thumb ghosting across the now erect nipple. Her moan was much more audible this time, and Naruto allowed himself a smirk as he sucked on the earlobe.

He pulled back to see Temari's face, and felt his pride swell. Temari's chest was heaving, and it was a sight that further aroused him, but he kept himself in check for the moment. Half lidded eyes that contained frustration, mixed with pleasure and….pleading?

"Guess I did something right," he said as smiled satisfactorily. Temari was heaving as she glared at him. What Naruto did to her in the past few seconds was almost unbelievable, and felt really good. She never knew a foreign touch was capable of causing such pleasure. She had never been aroused on such a level as before.

Lime scene over

"You are a tease," she said as she leant against him. Naruto just chuckled and wrapped his arms around her. Though they had been a bit more daring than the last time, both decided that this was a good boundary for now.

"Learnt from the master," he sassed back. Both were completely aroused right now, but before they could decided on a further course of action, Naruto's clone flashed before them, causing Temari to yelp and clutch Naruto tighter.

Naruto only snorted and said, "If you are going to live with me, you better get used to that."

But Temari recovered quickly and poked him in the chest. "Oh, no way, Namikaze. Trust me, we are going to lay some ground rules concerning your "flashing.""

Naruto stared at her for a moment, then relented. "Fair enough." Turning to the clone, he asked, "Is dinner ready?"

The clone smirked and nodded, causing Naruto to whistle. "Damn, time sure does pass fast when you're having fun."

Temari got up so Naruto could get up. "Get Gaara and Kankuro to the dining table. We'll follow."

The clone nodded and flashed away. Naruto turned to Temari, who was watching him with a knowing smirk. "What?"

"That's a very impressive size for someone your age," she commented while gesturing below.

Naruto quirked an eyebrow before looking down, instantly flushing in embarrassment. His "package" was clearly visible through the lower he was wearing, proudly standing tall.

To save some of his dignity, he asked in return. "And you would know how?"

Temari shrugged, "They teach stuff like that to the kunoichi in Suna for the missions that are "special.""

Naruto nodded, "Fair enough. Guess I'll have to settle for a cold shower, then."

He grabbed Temari and disappeared in a blue flash.

XXXXXXX

Kumogakure no sato was a village that lived up to its name. The village hidden in clouds was at such high altitude that it literally was hidden among the clouds.

This village was the shinobi village of Kaminari no kuni, the land of lightning. It's leader was called the Raikage, literally meaning the "lightning shadow." The current Raikage was simply known as A, and right now, he was staring at the destroyed furniture in his office, thinking about the latest news his spy had delivered.

Uzumaki Naruto was the one and only son of Namikaze Minato. At first, A's interest was aroused by the fact alone that an Uzumaki had survived and was living in Konoha right now. Uzushiogakure no sato had been completely destroyed in the Second great war, with the combined efforts of Kumo and Iwa. Of course, a few scant survivors might have managed to escape, but it's not as if they can do anything.

Then came the third war, in which Kumo had lost badly, but not as badly as Iwa did. Konoha no Kiroi Senko, Namikaze Minato, had single-handedly secured Konoha's victory in the war. The man had earned the entire shinobi world's fear, and grudging respect of a few. In fact, Minato came to be so feared that while the man's short reign as the Yondaime Hokage, no village even dared to so much as look at Konoha with the intent of fighting it. The world was aware of what happened to Iwa's forces, and no one wanted the wrath of the Yellow flash to be directed at them.

But thirteen years ago, the legendary Flash had died fighting to save his village from the Kyuubi. Contrary to what many people in his village felt, A held great respect for Minato. He was the only one to completely out speed and blindside him in their single fight against each other in the war. A respected strength, and Minato had proven himself stronger, and way faster than him. A considered Minato his rival, and was understandable upset when the only person who could give him a run for his speed left the world.

But looking at the situation from a political angle, it meant that Konoha no longer had the might of the yellow flash in their hands. And Iwa had rejoiced at the death of that man.

But now he was hearing this.

A blonde boy, no older than thirteen, with azure blue eyes named Uzumaki Naruto. A genin of Konoha who had been participating in the chunin exams as a student of Hatake Kakashi, the copy ninja. He was a non-entity to his spy until the moment it was announced that Uzumaki Naruto was the son of the Yondaime Hokage. And he was powerful, more than most of the jonin, his spy was saying.

This Naruto had trumped a Hyuga in taijutsu like it was nothing, and had used fuinjutsu and hiraishin in great conjunction to take out Suna's jinchuriki.

All in all, Uzumaki Naruto spelled trouble for the nations.

The boy was clearly powerful, and coupled with the hiraishin could match some of the world's greatest shinobi. If he was allowed to get even more powerful, the balance of power among the nations could dangerously tip in Konoha's favor. But even knowing this, A could not afford to go to war with Konoha, even if his military was much larger than the other village's. Much as he hated to admit, if Kumo had quantity, then Konoha had quality.

He sat down in his chair and thought. Right now, the news was that Suna had decided to regain its alliance with the leaf by using the old tradition of an arranged marriage. Sabaku no Temari, the daughter of the Yondaime Kazekage, had been set to marry Uzumaki Naruto. No doubt, not only would the marriage cement their alliance, but the offspring of the two would no doubt be powerful.

But he had to take into account the leaf as well. For all its powerful shinobi, the leaf was not a provocative village. They never made the first move in any of the great wars.

For now, he would keep the boy in check. It was all he could do right now.

XXXXXXX

Iwagakure was a village that harbored feelings of great hate towards the hidden leaf. Ever since the third great war ended, the tsuchikage, Onoki, resented the leaf. Onoki was an old, but powerful shinobi. The only one in the world with Jinton, the Dust release.

Onoki relied on the dust release far more than he cared to admit. He was a shinobi who had seen all the three great wars, and had lived through them. But of the three, the third war was the one he hated the most because of the crushing, humiliating defeat they suffered at the hands of just one man from Konoha, Namikaze Minato.

The blow to Iwa's pride, along with its forces, was so large that Iwa had yet to fully recover from it. Onoki hated the man with all his being at first, but after two years of heavy dwelling, he found that Namikaze Minato had done what anyone would have done in his place.

Namikaze Minato had protected his home.

It was war, and losses were dealt to both the sides. While Iwa suffered the heaviest, all the villages were fighting to survive. Konoha just happened to have a card that was better than theirs. Holding onto grudges like that did no one good. Namikaze Minato deserved his rest after what he did to protect his village. So Onoki did the wise thing.

He let his irrational hatred go.

Of course, that could not be said for the whole village. Countless had lost their families due to the slaughter Namikaze had brought upon them. His own granddaughter was one such example. Kurotsuchi lost her mother in the war, and had blamed it all on Namikaze. Onoki honestly was worried for her mental health. Blaming a man who was just doing his job was hardly fair, after all.

And now there was this news.

His spy had delivered the news of utmost importance. Apparently, The yellow flash had a child, whose name was Uzumaki Naruto. At first, Onoki couldn't quite believe the message. When he did, he had just collapsed onto his chair in disbelief.

He had seen the power of Namikaze Minato, and he was not interested in seeing that again. At first, he would have happily given the order to assassinate the boy and his recently known fiancée, to make sure that every trace of Namikaze Minato was wiped out from the face of the world.

But now?

He was content to just keep his distance. He knew that Namikaze lived by a code- as long as you kept your distance and didn't harm his close ones, he was content to leave you alone as well. "I look forward to see what you become, Namikaze Naruto."

Unfortunately, he forgot to safely put the document.