Starting over

#77 Kazekage

Naruto POV

We made our way to the Kazekage tower, where the ceremony was to be held.

Temari was wearing a long black dress, with red highlights and red shoes. She also had chosen red fingerless gloves, in the same shade as her shoes, even her nails were red. I wore a black tuxedo, with a red tie over a white shirt. If you wouldn't know any better, you could have thought that we were going to a funeral. Nonetheless, to me, Temari looked absolutely stunning, while she said the same about me. She had decided to let her hair down, which made it fall perfectly around her face, framing it, as if it was always meant to be this way. We walked arm in arm, silently, enjoying the fresh evening air, watching as the sun set over the walls of the village.

"Ah, Welcome Temari, Naruto.", Matsuri, Gaara's future assistant, said. She stood next to the entrance of the Kazekage's conference room, dressed in a pretty red dress, looking through a checklist for our names. When she found them, she marked them and smiled at us. "Have fun at the party.", she wished, as she let us pass into the room.

Once we entered, we were astonished, the usually dark and cluttered room filled with tables and chairs, was lit brightly, the whole room looked incredibly large, when the tables were removed. There was enough room for a small dance floor, as well as a small stand, where normally the Kazekage's chair stood. Some silent slow music was playing from a speaker, that was hidden somewhere. There were already around twenty people standing around, talking waiting for the ceremony to start.

We found Anko and went to her, seeing her being nervous, smiling but not really inviting anyone into a conversation.

"Hey, Anko.", Temari greeted her, pulling her into a hug. "Hey.", Anko answered, while her eyes darted across the room, probably looking for Gaara. "He will be alright. Don't worry.", I tried to calm the purple haired kunoichi down.

"Yeah, I know, I am just worried, about how our life is gonna change with him getting all this responsibility. ", Anko said, with a small smile at me. "You're gonna be fine, I mean he already was running the village in these last few weeks, Baki was just his advisor.", Temari reasoned. "I guess you're right.", Anko nodded, relaxing a bit.

"So, how have you been?", she asked, while taking a glass of sparkling wine from the table with the drinks. "We've been alright. Our teams are coming along great and we are confident that we can take any challenge, the new Kazekage throws at us.", I replied with a smile.

Anko just wanted to say something back, when the lights got dimmed and Baki stepped on the small platform.

"Welcome, everyone. Today we have gathered to celebrate the appointment of our new leader. I wish him the best of luck in his reign, and that he will bring our village a prosperous future. Now, without further ado, I present to you: Our new leader, the Godaime Kazekage, Sabaku no Gaara.", the brown haired man introduced. He stepped aside and let Gaara come up on the platform, clad in full Kazekage attire, he still had his small gourd on him, hanging from a simple blue cloth belt, that Gaara had tied around his white robe.

He waited for the small applause to settle, before he began to speak. "Hello, representatives of Sunagakure. I, the fifth Kazekage, Sabaku no Gaara, welcome you to this small get together. Now, for the official part; I, as the new Kazekage swear to protect the village and it's citizens with my life. I will make sure, that our great village rises to new heights. And I hope that I can count on every one of you, to help me with this task.", Gaara said, earning a large round of applause. "Now, let us rejoice and celebrate, not for our past but for our future. Here's to a bright and happy future.", Gaara said, raising his glass. Everyone raised his glass, whether it was filled with wine or with some other kind of beverage, and toasted to the new Kazekage.

"Hey, there Kazekage-sama", Anko greeted her boyfriend with a smile, when he had fought through all the people wanting to congratulate him on finally becoming the leader of the village. "You know, I don't want you to adress me formally.", Gaara said with a frown. "I know, I'm just messing with you.", Anko replied chuckling. Gaara smiled, before giving her a quick peck on the lips.

"Hey, how are you doing?", he asked us, after he had parted from his girlfriend. "We are good. So, how is it, to officially be the Kazekage?", Temari asked with a smile. "Honestly, besides the new attire, I don't feel any difference. But I will see, how I can manage, when I'm on my own now.", Gaara, said while tugging at his robe, obviously not content with how it was fitting him. "You know, that you are not alone. You have Anko and us and I am sure, that Baki won't just leave you, just because you are now officially the leader. And then you have the advisors council, that you can rely on for assistance. You will never be alone.", I said, patting the redheads shoulder. "Thanks, I know. I just don't wanna make any mistakes, you know.", Gaara said smiling, putting his arm around Anko. "Everyone makes mistakes, but I'm sure, you will do just fine.", Anko said, leaning her head against her boyfriend's shoulder.

The next hour we talked about this and that, being interrupted every few minutes, by some person wanting to talk to Gaara about something official, but always getting the same answer, that Gaara would hear him out tomorrow, since today was a night of celebration and he didn't want to spoil it by getting worked up about something that had time.

When a slow song came on, he suddenly asked Anko to a dance, to which she obviously agreed and soon enough the dance floor, was filled with dancing couples. We stood on the sidelines, Temari leaning on my shoulder, watching.

Even Matsuri came on the dance floor, and was currently dancing with one of the councilmen. When the music switched, everyone changed partners and Anko, went out towards us, smiling. Gaara meanwhile had begun dancing with his blonde assistant and you could see, that the two were in almost perfect sync. It was nothing, like when Gaara had lead Anko, who had just let him guide her, making it look like Gaara was almost forcing her to dance. He and Matsuri were just flowing around each other, obviously not close, since Gaara was in a relationship, but it was obvious that the two had a connection. Anko just smiled at this as she stood next to us, observing the dance. "It's almost as if the two of them are made for each other.", she whispered, watching the pair. I raised my eyebrow at that, but let it slide. "Temari, would you give me this dance?", I asked, slightly bowing to my girlfriend with a smile, holding my hand out. "Of course.", Temari replied softly, taking my hand and letting me lead her to the dance floor.