Nindō 0037: Temari’s Decision
The next morning, Naruto's first destination after breakfast with his family was the hospital.
"Morning, Temari," Naruto entered the hospital ward with a slightly surprised expression on his face. "You didn't go home yesterday?"
"I did, Hokage-sama," The blonde nodded without giving any indication of the previous night's events.
"Kankuro will still need a few days to heal completely, but the Kazekage needs to return to Suna today itself to prevent suspicions from being raised," Naruto said.
"I understand," Temari nodded. "What is your decision?"
"I was initially going to send either Lee or Sai to Suna with your brothers, both to protect them and express Konoha's support for Kankuro. After a discussion with your husband, however, I changed my mind. I want you to go to Suna as Konoha's ambassador along with a shadow clone of myself to support your brother's ascension to become the Kazekage. Your standing in Suna is much higher than anyone else, and you would probably like to go home for a couple of months."
Temari showed a surprised expression, "I thought that you were going to send me to become the Kazekage."
"Do you want to become the Kazekage? If you take that path, you won't be able to meet your family in Konoha beyond a few weeks each year. And that's going to last until you appoint a successor or Shinki grows up to take over." Naruto said, making Temari show a hesitant expression.
"Is it important for me to go to Suna for so long? I feel that Kankuro, as long as he has the support of a strong S-class shinobi like the Anbu Commander or Rock Lee, will be easily able to manage the village." She said. "I don't really wish to leave my family for so long."
"I understand, Temari," Naruto showed a bright smile, his mere presence lifting Temari's spirits. "I will take care of things when it comes to Suna's situation. As for Gaara, it's better that he stays in Konoha, under the supervision of our staff and you." Temari seemed to want to say something, but Naruto read her mind, "You don't have to worry. Whatever decision I take about Suna will make sure that the village's stability is maintained."
Temari understood that she wasn't going to be privy to the decisions that the Hokage makes in lieu of Suna from this point. 'I can't leave my family to become the Kazekage. And I'm not strong enough to singlehandedly manage the opposition that Suna will mount against Kankurō anyway. It's better this way.'
Naruto left the hospital ward, only to run into Shikamaru, who still had a slight swelling on his cheek from the slap that Temari delivered to him the previous night. Naruto noticed it and instantly understood what had transpired between the husband and wife during the previous night.
"You told you that you wanted to use her as a proxy to take over Suna," Naruto said.
Shikamaru, who was just about to ask about the conversation froze in his spot. "Y-yeah …"
"Grab me something to drink from the vending machine. I'll be up on the roof," Naruto said, turning to the emergency staircase that led all the way to the roof.
Shikamaru sighed, "What a drag."
…
"What happened?" Naruto asked as he leaned his arms on the railing of the roof with a bottle of iced tea in his hand while Shikamaru lit his cigarette. The man took a puff while admiring the view of the village from the roof of the hospital.
"Nice view from here, no?" He said, looking around.
"My office has an even better one," Naruto said.
"Way to flex on me, Lord Hokage," Shikamaru joked. A silence lulled between the two before he sighed tiredly, "I told her about my idea and may have gotten a little too enthused about her becoming the Kazekage that I let slip much more than I should've."
"You told her about how you want to annex Suna and the Land of Wind as a whole?" Naruto asked amusedly.
"Not really, but also kind of," He nodded. "I've already contacted Sai, he has some people from the Anbu constantly keep an eye on her. I trust she won't tell anyone about it, but it's better to be safe than sorry later."
"You messed up," Naruto said, taking a sip from his tea. "Big time. Because she really would've been the best possible candidate for the Kazekage. With the correct choice of words and coaxing, she could've done exactly what we needed. Hell, Suna is already stirring since someone leaked the information of something having happened to Gaara."
"Kankurō is going to have a hell of a time there," Shikamaru said.
"Yeah, not only Sai, but I will have to send an entire entourage of Anbu along with him to support Kankurō into becoming the Kazekage. Maybe a shadow clone as well but that probably won't be necessary. I'm almost happy that they don't have Shukaku anymore, they've lost the deterrent effect."
"Is Kurama the only tailed beast remaining now?" Shikamaru asked. "That Ōtsutsuki guy said that he converted everyone else into pills."
"For now, yes," Naruto nodded. "They will return eventually, but it's going to be after a very long time. For now, none of the villages have their tailed beasts."
"That's honestly a good thing. They will all act in moderation now. Especially the daimyo. I hope that our daimyo isn't the one to mess everything up."
"Back to the main conversation, Temari isn't going to Suna. So we are losing Sai for a few months at the least while he helps Kankuro with the ensuing rebellion. That means we will need someone to step in as the new Anbu commander."
"Who do you have in mind?"
"It's either Yamato-sensei or Kakashi-sensei. I don't trust anyone else to take the position of Anbu Commander at the moment. Maybe once Sai returns, I'll have him train an actual successor for his position instead of the current second-in-command."
"I don't think that the Sixth is willing to come back from his retirement unless absolutely necessary," Shikamaru said. "It's better to contact Yamato-san for the job."
"No," Naruto shook his head. "Get Kakashi-sensei to either come back and take over until Sai returns or to send a competent replacement. That's how we are going to get Yamato-sensei to take the position. And Shikamaru …"
"What is it?"
"Don't deal with this task the same way you dealt with your wife."
"I was in a vulnerable place with my wife …" He mumbled under his breath. "I should go down and talk to her. She's probably going to beat me up."
…
Naruto spent the next hour or so dealing with Kankurō's departure where Sai used a transformation jutsu to take Gaara's place in the train. The Anbu commander took a team of twenty of his skilled members along with him to support Kankurō's ascension.
After that was all taken care of, Naruto went home for lunch before leaving again since he had some things to take care of at the office.
'Sarada should've been here by now …' He thought to himself before tracking her, 'She's in her usual training ground.' He didn't do anything after tracking her location, leaving it aside.
He took care of a few meetings before creating a shadow clone to take care of whatever remained and left for his home.
On the way, he decided to make a detour to a certain flower shop. He pushed open the door to the shop, making the bell at the entry door ring as Ino looked up from her desk.
"Hokage-sama," The blonde stood up from her seat and met Naruto's eyes with a sweet smile.
"Ino, how are you doing? The communication and barrier systems must require a lot of repair work after the invasion."
"Oh, you have no idea," She approached him and stood much closer than she would with a customer.
"Let me know what you need. I'll try to pull some strings if need be," Naruto said, not reacting to the closeness.
"It's fine," Ino smiled, wrapping her arm around his, "Come on, I'll show you around, what kind of flowers do you need?"
"What makes you think that I'm here to get flowers?" Naruto asked as he followed along with Ino who was pressed up against him while walking through her store.
"You never come otherwise. You would've summoned me to your office if you had any official business."
"How perceptive."
"It works in the family. So? What flowers?"
"I want to get some for Hinata. She was really worried about me when I disappeared with the Ōtsutsuki. I had the thought to make it up to her. Maybe another blue orchid for Himawari as well. She kept it in her hair for two days after that, barely agreeing to take it off once Hinata got stern."
"I knew it," Ino smiled slyly, rubbing herself against Naruto's arm. "I'll get you a mixed bouquet of roses for Hinata-chan. As for my little niece, I'll give her a different blue flower that she'll love even more."
"Sound's good," Naruto thought that Ino would let go of him, but instead, she led him all around the store while keeping both arms wrapped around his arm, making him pick out the flowers that he liked best.
"Thanks, Ino. How much is it?" Naruto asked as he admired the beautiful bouquet of roses that she'd made for him.
"Come on," She patted his hand, "I'm not taking money from you." She then leaned forward and, at a speed that anyone else would've missed, gave a very light, fleeting kiss on his cheek. "Now get going, your family is waiting for you." Despite her words, there was expectation in her eyes.
"I appreciate it, really," Naruto smiled, turning around and leaving the store.
He didn't need superhuman senses to sense the frustrated stomp that resounded through Ino's store the moment he left. He merely smiled, continuing on his way home.
'Let her stew for a while longer before getting to the crux of her situation.'
On the way, he recalled something and sent a telepathic message.
[Come to my office tomorrow evening, don't be tardy. We need to talk.]
***
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