Fiance

-The next day-

The genins and their sensei were all summoned into the office of the hokage, some were in awe, some were confused, while others were uninterested. Their new hokage, one of the legendary sannin also known as the legendary sucker (in gambling) Tsunade Senju. She sat at her desk looking onto a document and glancing up at the crowd then back to the paper. Someone spoke up and asked the question on everyone's minds.

"Hokage-sama, for what reason were we summoned?" Tenya asked with a confused expression, the blonde woman sighed and took a deep breath then spoke.

"I have called you all here because I have an important news to share." They all perked their ears up to hear, she looked to the crowd and then continued.

"The councils of konoha and the sand both agreed to a political marriage contract. They seem to want to forge a stronger bond between both villages. Two people have been assigned to marry, one is a young lady from the sand and the other is one of you in this room." She said shocking the people present in the room, they all looked around wandering who it could be.

"They're seriously going with that old act?" Kakashi asked, closing his book.

"Yes, apparently the council decided on it before I was appointed hokage." She stated.

"So who are getting married?" Kiba asked petting his dog, Akamaru.

"The person from the sand is someone you are likely familiar with I believe, her name is Temari." She answered.

"Then that means its not one of the adults." Shikamaru deduced.

"Correct." She nodded and said."The one who is getting married is Menma Uzumaki. This will be announced to the village later." She finished. The room fell silent for a while as they turn to look to Menma who was leaning against the wall and back to the hokage to confirm it wasn't a mistake, she nodded then the crowd erupted with a loud.

"EHHHH!!????" Everyone exclaimed.(except Naruto, Menma and Tsunade)

Tsunade managed to calm them down after a while then told them." Everyone except Menma and Kakashi will help with the construction of the house for the new couple."

Some of them were not pleased with having to build a house instead of training.

"She will be arriving in a few days, so please finish the apartment before then. Now you are dismissed."

They all filed out of the room, some of them wanted to ask questions but they decided to wait until later. Kakashi took Menma under his care for the few days until his fiance arrived and taught him etiquette and what not. The boy spent the rest of his days studying, and when he finished he wasbored out of his mind.

-A few days later-

Temari and her brothers looked ahead and saw the gates of konoha. Still unaware of who she would be paired with, this irritated her immensely. She was forced to study about various important figures, the different clans and she had to stop training for a while. Her brother, Gaara gave his approval but still refused to inform her of who she would marry.

When she got closer she saw The Hokage,Tenji,Tenya,Yuko Naruto, Kakashi, Shizune and Menma who stood beside his brother.

Menma stepped forward and bowed as he said."I greet you and I wish you welcome and safety." He internally cringed at his words while his inhabitant could only laugh.

Temari seemed taken aback by the formal greeting then replied. "I am thankful for the hospitality and the honour."

Menma looked up, locking eyes with the girl. He noticed that was studying him. Gaara then stepped forward, now face to face with the spiky haired boy he stared deep into his blue eyes, sporting a neutral expression without any hint of bloodlust.

"Menma Uzumaki." He said in a gruff voice

"Yes, can I help you?"

"Will you take care of my sister the same way you would those you hold dear?"

"That's a given." Menma said.

"Thank you," Gaara said then turned to the blonde."And thank you to you too Naruto for showing me a new path." He had a genuine smile for the first time since he was a child, Naruto had a big smile from ear to ear and gave him a thumbs up.

Temari glanced at the dark haired boy.

'I know I was interested him before but I hope he isn't going to be an ass and rush things.' Temari thought to herself

"Yosh!" Tsunade clapped her hands gaining their attention.

"I think Menma should take her and show her their new home and I have arranged rooms for your brothers so don't worry. Tomorrow at 10am I want everyone in my office as we officially welcome Temari as a part of konoha and she will also be joining team 5." She said.

"As long as she follows orders its fine by me." Tenji said

"Okay. Now that that's over..." Tsunade says turning and looking at Menma. He seemed to get the hint, went up to Temari taking her hand and said.

"Lets go explore our new home." Menma said, Temari just went with the flow and followed him.

-Uzumaki Home-

Temari looked at her new home and seemed pleased, she tried familiarize herself with her new environment as she wasn't use to the cool temperature in the leaf but she didn't hate it since it was way better than constantly being torched by the heat in the desert.

"So, what are your thoughts on the place?" The boy asked

"Its a decent sized house and its situated in an area where people dont usually come often. I like it."

"Its good that you like it." He said.

"Lets go inside so I can unpack my stuff." She said showing off her scrolls.

"Alright." He replied flatly

The two entered the house then went upstairs there were 2 bedrooms, Temari was thinking about what the boy had in mind, wondered if he was going to tell her to sleep with him.

Menma notices this and points to the door directly infront of them and says."That one's my room." Now pointing to the room opposite his he says."And that one is for you."

"We might be getting married and be living in the same house but its still too soon to be sleeping in the same bed, especially if we haven't known each other for that long."

The girl was impressed at his that he had the common decency to not rush things as it would have a negative impact on their relationship.

"I'll unpack now." She said walking into her room.

"Need any help?"

"Thanks." She said, they enter the room and she then opened the scrolls and unsealed them, revealing her belongings such as a soft matress, a mirror, clothes and other stuff, since she didn't think she would be able to go back to the sand so she brought everything with her. She took out a spare picture of her and her brothers and placed it on her bedside table, she had on one of the cutest smiles.

'Cute.' The boy thought

They both then entered living room and set it up, in the next 3 hours they were done and it looked and felt more like a home.

Looking at her discreetly then turning to the backyard door and said.

"Do you want to see the rest of the place now?"

"Yeah." She replied

Menma opened the door and let her walk out first, earning him a chuckle and then he followed her out, she was surprised at the amount of space that was in the backyard.

"This place would be great to train in. Dont you think?" She said

"Yeah, how about we turn it into a training ground later on?" He suggested

"Alright." She replied and walking towards him."Show me around the rest of the place." She said with an expectant gaze.

Menma internally sighed and showed her around, they saw a small onsen, it seemed newly built so there wasn't much water in it but they weren't in a rush since they had the rest of their lives to fill it up.

He then suggested that they use one of the rooms to store their ninja gear to which she agreed. They then went back to the house and went to a room, it wasn't much but it was enough for both of them to share.

There were small selves made for kunai, shuriken, paper bombs, holsters and pouches as well as wire tapes and fuma shurikens (wind demon shuriken). She could easily place her fan and a couple of other tools, if she had more, in the room.

She had to admit it was a good start to their life as a 'married couple'. She wasn't used to it yet but she thought it wasn't so bad since the more she got to know him, the more she came to like him.

"Do you want to go anywhere else?" He asked.

"Hmm...How about the kitchen?" She said.

"Ok, lets go." He replied and lead her to the kitchen, she happily followed behind him and when they entered, the first thing she did was check the cupboard but to her shock all she saw was ramen, ramen and more ramen all of them were in different flavours.She then turned to the refrigerator and saw that it was empty. He face palmed.

"Why is there only ramen in the cupboard and why is the refrigerator empty?" She asked Menma.

"My brother must have put those in behind my back and I didn't have time to do any shopping." He replied.

She sighed and said."Okay, we're gonna have to do some shopping."

"Now?" He asked, reluctant to leave.

"Yes."

While on the way to the nearest store, Temari had Menma tell her and show her anything she needed to know, she had the basic layout of the village from her time there and her studies, but now she would be a resident so she needed to know certain stores like clothing, ninja gear, cosmetic stores and anything else.

He found it tedious but he could only go alone with it, she pressed him for details on different stores he only gave her a few but what she didn't know was that those were the only stores that allowed the boy to buy anything.

He wasn't sure if the other stores would let her in because she was now his fiance and was also from the sand,so he didn't tell her. He noticed that some of the villagers were glaring at him, although they weren't as bad as before, he also saw a few glaring at Temari, he glanced at her and saw that either she didn't notice or just didn't care.

-Later-

After a while Temari finished shopping and paid the cashier then saw that she had little money left, she sighed and turned to see Menma wasn't there, she then heard noise coming from across the store and went to check, she saw an old woman shouting at Menma and looking at him with hateful gaze, so were the other people present. He seemed to be getting fed up of their behavior and opened his mouth to speak but decided against it and turned around walking to the direction of Temari, ignoring their words.

She had an idea what they were cussing him out for so she didn't bother asking, they made their way home and Temari seemed satisfied as they now had enough food to serve them for a while and Menma had been the perfect gentleman summoning his clones to take care of the baggage. She learned that unlike her brother, Menma wouldn't try to kill her if she spoke too much.

She smirked smugly as she thought.'Maybe this marriage would work out after all.'

They entered the house and put the stuff where they were supposed to go then Temari went to her room to take a nap as she was already exhausted from the journey to konoha plus the unpacking and shopping.

After she went to sleep Menma thought about how he could help her be feel more at home, he then turned to his resident devil for advice.

'Hey Kurama.'

'What is it, kit?'

'I want to make her feel more at home, got any ideas?'

'Heh, you really are taking this marriage thing seriously huh kit?'

'Well yeah, since we will be spending our lives together I want it to at least be enjoyable for us both.'

'Good point.'

'So any ideas?'

"Hmm... How about you cook something for her?"

'That's.... A pretty good idea, thanks Kurama.' He then made his way to the kitchen and took out various ingredients as well as cooking tools.He had learnt how to cook from a young age as he and his brother lived alone, plus he got lessons from Kakashi recently so he knew how to prepare other dishes now. He then opened the cupboard and took out various ingredients laying then on the table then rolled up his sleeves and started.

About an hour later Temari slowly opened her eyes as she got up out of her bed and stretched, her stomach started to growl.

'Maybe I'll get something to eat.' She then went to her room door and turned the knob, when the door was open she was greeted by a pleasant smell.

"Mmm..." She then made her way down the stairs and went to the kitchen and saw dirty plates in the sink, she then strutted into the living room and saw Menma placing dishes on the table. He then looked up and saw her at the entrance and smiled softly.

"Oh, you're awake.Come and sit" He said gesturing the blonde kunoichi over.

She went over and sat at the table as he brought her dish to her."I thought you might like something to eat when you woke up." He said, she then looked at the dish and saw that there was vegetable soup which was her favourite, sashimi and a pot of sukiyaki.

She was nothing short of amazed, taking a sip of the vegetable soup She was glad to know that her future husband was a great cook, it meant she wouldn't have to always be cooking him meals, she smiled then continued to eat the food then Menma asked.

"Are you going to visit your brothers tomorrow?"

"Well... I hope so but I dont know how long they'll be here for." She replied, Menma seemed to notice the sad look on her face and wondered how he would feel if he couldn't see Naruto, it didn't feel good."Having family... it must he nice."

"Heh, yeah it is." She smirked reminiscing about her time with her brothers, now she was going to miss out on all the things with them she wondered if they would miss her as much as she would miss them.

"You're quite lucky." Menma said, she looked up to see he had a saddened expression as he stared at his food.

Even though it was a first, she didn't like seeing him like that, it made her feel bad. She knew that he had no other family except his brother, she couldn't understand how that was like. Plus he wasn't that bad, sure he did come off a bit strong at first but when she got to know him she realized he wasn't that bad a person and he had proven her point with how helpful he had been throughout the whole day.

"Well, if you think about it, they'll also be your family very soon." She said

His eyes slightly widened then a soft smile protruded onto his face, sure they wouldn't be related by blood but it was still better for both him and his brother.

"Haha, I guess you're right. Thanks, Temari." He said.

"You're welcome." She replied

The rest of the night wasn't too bad after all, they talked a bit. He mainly filled her in on his team members and warned her about a few things like Tenya's arrogance. She also shared things about herself as they got to know each other better, this went on for a couple of hours, when they realized this fact they were both surprised, though it was quite refreshing to share their past with someone as no one had been interested in their lives.

Menma told his story. "Menma continued his story, "After being kicked out of the orphanage at age 4, Naruto and I started to live in an old apartment building. We had to hide from the villagers at night because they would chase us down to hurt us, succeeding at times. It was hard, but we lived with it. We searched the forest area for mushrooms and other foods to live until we met Teuchi."

"Teuchi was the owner of Ichiraku Ramen, a small restaurant in the village. He took pity on us and started giving us free food. It was the first time we had eaten warm food in a while. He even gave us a place to stay on the second floor of his restaurant," Menma continued.

"He treated us like family, and we started to think of him as our surrogate father. He was the first person to show us kindness in the village, and we were grateful for it," Menma said, a hint of emotion in his voice.

"But even with Teuchi's kindness, the villagers still treated us with contempt. We were always reminded that we were the 'demon children' and that we didn't belong in the village. It was a difficult time, but Naruto and I always had each other," Menma finished, a somber expression on his face.

Temari listened with a heavy heart, realizing the extent of the suffering that Menma and Naruto had to endure. She couldn't imagine what it must have been like to live in constant fear and isolation. "I'm so sorry," she said softly. "No one should have to go through something like that."

Menma shrugged. "It's in the past now. We've learned to survive on our own and we've even made some friends along the way."

Temari nodded, impressed by Menma's resilience. "And what about your future plans?" she asked.

"We plan on becoming strong shinobi and protecting those we care about. We want to show the village that we're not the monsters they think we are," Menma said with determination.

Temari smiled, feeling a sense of admiration for the two young boys.

"Thank you for sharing your story with me," Temari said, giving Menma a small nod of acknowledgement. "I can't imagine how difficult it must have been for you both. But I can see now why you're both so strong and determined. I hope that we can work together and become allies in the future."

Menma smiled, feeling a sense of relief that he could trust Temari with his story. "I agree. Let's work together to protect our villages and those we care about," he said.

After he finished his story Menma offered to do the dishes, she tried to do it herself as she felt she hadn't done anything but he convinced her to continue resting as she had a long day and he didn't mind at all. He summoned clones and split the duties between them, she just shook her head, failing to understand how he still had the energy to make those clones.

She got up and went to her room mulling over her conversation with Menma as she had learned a great deal about him that night. He was still a mystery to her like how he was so dangerous yet gentle, how he was so nonchalant yet serious, how he seemed so emotionless but yet caring. She got answers but ended up with more questions. Anyways tomorrow was another day and now she looked forward to learning more about her new team.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

-Akatsuki Hideout-

Tobi stood in front of the Akatsuki members, wearing his signature orange mask and black cloak with red clouds. The members gathered around him, curious to hear the information he had gathered.

"Alright everyone, I've gathered some valuable intel on the Jinchurikis we've been searching for," Tobi announced, his voice sounding cheerful and goofy as always.

"First up, we have Naruto and Menma Uzumaki, the twin Jinchurikis of the Nine Tails. They're currently living in Konoha, and it seems like they're being protected by some of the most powerful shinobi in the village."

The other members leaned in, listening intently.

"Menma, caught my attention you see. I had a chance to fight him in a forest outside the arena, after using Kamui to take him away from the exam grounds."

Tobi paused, his eyes flickering with the memory of the battle. "He might be 12 years old, but he is already incredibly powerful. He managed to land a few blows on me aswell."

There were murmurs of surprise from the other members.

"But," Tobi continued, "When I was about to take him back with me Jiraya intervened. He managed to get Menma away from me and back to the village."

"As for Orochimaru," Tobi continued, "I've discovered that he's been experimenting with the Jinchurikis in secret. It seems like he's trying to create some kind of powerful weapon, but I wasn't able to gather any more information on that."

The Akatsuki members murmured amongst themselves, impressed by the amount of information that Tobi had gathered.

"Good work, Tobi," Deidara said, clapping his hands together. "You've really outdone yourself this time."

Tobi beamed underneath his mask, happy to have received praise from his fellow Akatsuki members.

"Thanks, Deidara! I'm just doing my best to help out," Tobi replied, still sounding as goofy as ever.