Desert Flower - [Rewrite]

Chapter 20

"You're an okay-okay dancer."

Knowing this was the furthest extent of a compliment he'd be getting from her tonight, Naruto took it with a smile, "What can I say, I had an awesome teacher." Kurotsuchi laughed lightly, finally feeling relaxed.

"Thank you."

She hadn't expected him to go so far just to make her feel at home. When her grandfather had forced her to make friends with Naruto, she'd feared the worst. There was nothing more she hated than an enemy country's ninja, slap on the name Namikaze to the back and you had a winning combo that was hard to beat in her list of hate.

But he had held her by his arm throughout the evening, taking every curt and cold comment she threw at him with a grain of salt. To think he'd go so far as to force her into a lovely dance just to make her feel comfortable was beyond what she'd expected from him in the wildest of her dream; not like she was dreaming of him or anything dang it!

Why the hell was his chest so plushy for crying out loud?!

Just as the music started annotating the last of it's notes, Naruto took her hand and spun the girl around, earning a squeal of delight from the stone-faced kunoichi before he pulled her back closer to him and lifted up her thigh in one swift movement. Finishing their dance by leaning her back while he pushed his weight on her, his fingers teasingly traced her thigh through the slit in her gown and smiled seeing her flushed scowl.

"Told you, I've got an awesome teacher."

Before she could retort with some sort of sissy reply, a round of applause broke the duo's reverie; only now did they notice that everyone's sole focus of attention was on just the two of them. Kurotsuchi made a show of fixing her gown and gave a bow, Naruto followed suit and both got down from the floor, looking very much worse and under the weather for the wear, "You're the worst!"

"Oh, hush. You enjoyed that dance just as much as I did."

"That's not the point!" she hissed, "We're not supposed to…"

Naruto cut her off, "We're not supposed to what?"

Sighing, "You know, act so kind and friendly…" she muttered.

Naruto rose an eyebrow and crossed his arms, unimpressed, "Why the hell not?!" he asked.

"You were born in the Leaf, Naruto." she explained,"…now you live in the Sand and I'm from the Hidden Stone that despises the both of 'em…"

Cutting her tirade midway, "It's nothing to be ashamed of," Naruto said, stopping beside her with an air of confidence. "Don't just keep thinking back to where the person was born, no one has control over it. Times are changing, Kurotsuchi; and to be honest I'm hoping Sand and Stone will be allies in the future." her breath hitched, clearly caught off guard.

"Allies!" she exclaimed, flushing when she saw all eyes turning to her with amusement, "I'm sorry, W-What?!" she stuttered.

Naruto took a step forward, making her take one back out of sheer instincts. His aura alone was one she had never encountered before - an aura of power, of pure confidence. He wasn't even oozing the slightest bits of chakra or killing intent, and yet, as ashamed as she was to admit it, Kurotsuchi already felt dominated by his presence. "You aren't ready, Kurotsuchi. Not yet, but even I can see you'll be the one who'll be named the Tsuchikage given some time to mature and grow." Naruto honestly confessed, "I want us to be neutral at least, if not more."

Suddenly, for some odd reason, Kurotsuchi found her heels to be an awful lot interesting, "…You really believe I'll be Tsuchikage?!" she whispered in such a small voice that Naruto had almost missed it.