"Welcome," Toki smiled formally at her guests, "I trust your journey went well?"
"As well as can be expected," Haruna answered, her inflection indicating she would have more to say in private. Her traveling cloths were gone, replaced by a formal yukata in three different hues of green; very similar to the white and yellow garment her counterpart wore. The three shinobi were clad in their usual uniforms, but had changed into fresh outfits.
The hosting ruler nodded, her smile slipping, "Then perhaps we should resume our talks without delay."
"That would be the wisest course," Haruna inclined her head.
"Then, if you will come with me?" Toki stood carefully. The Daimyo shared a worried glance with her husband, before stepping down to their level. She indicated the left hand side of the audience chamber, where a hallway led to more private rooms. Toki began to walk towards the corridor, and Haruna and the Leaf Ninjas moved to follow. But before they could approach the Bird Daimyo, a pair of kunai embedded themselves in the floor in front of Haruna.
"I wouldn't do that, Toki!" a familiar voice exclaimed loudly.
At the back of the throne room, another Naruto Uzumaki landed, having just leapt over the heads of the guards at the entrance. He set down a second Haruna, and an additional Sakura and Neji dropped down next to him.
"Don't go anywhere with those imposters," the second Naruto commanded. The new arrivals were slightly dirty and disheveled, and the new Daimyo Haruna was panting. They stared at the earlier arrivals indignantly.
"Don't listen to them, Toki," the first Naruto countered, "They're the imposters."
"Is this why you delayed us?" the dust covered Neji asked evenly, "So you could insert yourselves into Lady Toki's court?"
"Is this a desperate ploy, because we escaped your trap too quickly?" the first Neji redirected. Sagi's sister, meanwhile, had withdrawn to the dais where her husband still sat, and her soldiers surrounded the platform.
"Which ones are the real ones?" Toki asked Chishima.
"I'm the real deal," the grimy Uzumaki said, "See?"
He held up his right hand, and formed a Rasengan above it.
"So what?" the polished version shot back, "I can do that too."
He lifted his own palm, and identical sphere hovered over it.
"No way," the late arrival gaped. Then he recovered, and challenged, "That's not real. It's gotta be a Genjutsu or something. So why don't we see which one is stronger?"
He took a step forward, pointing the attack at his duplicate.
"No way," the clean Chunin parroted, "You've probably got some lighting or fire jutsu hidden under that illusion. So when they hit, you'll burn me and make it look like you won. I'm not falling for that trick."
"Why you!" the soiled Uzumaki growled, starting to charge. Then he pulled up short. He grinned mischievously, and his Rasengan vanished.
"OK," he presented, wiping a smudge off his face, "If you're really me, then how did I meet Lady Toki for the first time? The real Toki, not her pretending to be Sagi."
"Umm..." the first Naruto stammered, "That's a trick question. You want me to say it was when everyone else found out. But, I knew she was really a woman right away. The pervert hermit taught me how to read women, and..."
"Wrong!" the genuine article smirked triumphantly, "First, Pervy Sage didn't teach me that until later. But either way, you're wrong on both counts. Though I didn't realize it at the time, the first time I saw Toki was when I was sneaking around the palace, and I ran into her out back. She was..."
"That's enough," The Daimyo of Birds barked, turning deep red.
"That is the real Naruto," she continued, indicated the dirt-coated youth who had been about to 'reveal' her, "Guards, surround the imposters."
"Lady Toki, you cannot believe this!" the fake Haruna started to protest, but the real princess interrupted her.
"Toki-dono knows I would never refer to her like that," the Daimyo of Greens said imperiously, despite still being short of breath. The imposter's group all turned to glare at her.
"Big mistake," Naruto crowed, "Taking your eyes off me."
Uzumaki charged the remainder of the gap, and punched his doppelganger hard in the face. The stunned ninja was knocked back into the false Sakura, and as they collided, he lost control of his transformation, and reverted to normal. The long-limbed, hairless Grass Ninja reappeared in a puff of smoke.
"Now what?" the revealed warrior asked, as he leapt back to his feet, drawing a kunai in each hand.
"Plan B," the false Haruna sneered, dropping all pretense of civility. She drew a whip, readying herself for a fight.
"Plan B doesn't call for them to be here!" the duplicate of Sakura insisted. Her hand swept to indicate the three Leaf Ninja, but her eyes focused on Naruto and Haruna. The Grass tech ninja nodded in agreement.
"Fine," the impersonator of the Daimyo grumbled, "Retreat."
"Like we're gonna let you escape," Naruto made a cutting gesture with his hand. But at the same time, the four Grass shinobi each smashed a smoke bomb on the ground. The cloud was swirling as the imposters used the Body Flicker to appear behind the guards, already running. Naruto started to give chase.
"Stop," Neji ordered. Uzumaki almost tripped as he slid to a halt, and he turned to goggle at the Jonin. The eldest teen had activated his Kekkei Genkai, and was watching their enemies flee.
"We gotta go after them," the blonde Chunin insisted. But Hyuga just shook his head.
"No," their leader explained, "There are four of them, and only three of us. They have already split up, which means whoever we do not pursue could double back. Our job is to protect the Daimyos, and that is best accomplished by staying here with them."
Naruto nodded reluctantly in agreement, and Sakura sighed. Part of her agreed with her teammate, but she knew their leader was correct.
"Well, you all appear as if you could use a chance to clean up," Toki stepped back down, taking charge of the situation, "But I don't intend to let you out of my sight."
"Ah," Sakura groaned in contentment as she eased herself into the bath. Both of the Daimyos were already submerged to their shoulders, and Toki smiled at the Shinobi.
"I take it you had an interesting trip?" their host asked, after the warrior-medic had settled, and had placed her towel on the shelf. Sakura and Haruna glanced at one another, and the ruler of the Land of Greens shrugged.
"Not interesting, To-chan, just tedious," the younger Daimyo explained, "Someone, presumably the same group from earlier, trapped us in an illusion that made us walk in circles for hours without being aware of the time."
'To-chan?' Inner Sakura frowned.
"So then to make up for lost time, Naruto carried me part of the way."
"You must have loved that, Ha-chan," Toki smirked at her counterpart.
"I've been through worse," she conceded, but her reddening cheeks and tiny smile made lie her apathetic tone.
"But we have more important matters to attend to," Haruna said pointedly. Toki nodded in sharp agreement, and they both turned on Sakura, leaning towards her, their eyes sparkling. The Kunoichi cringed back, but she had nowhere to go.
"Is it true you know Yukie Fujikaze?" Toki asked, breathless with curiosity and jealousy.
"You have failed again," the Grass Jonin told them dismissively. Despite being equal in rank to two members of the intercepting team, he was in control of the mission. And despite being the second shortest, he looked down on the other four shinobi. Other than his somewhat noticeable lack of height, he was the most unassuming of the group, with shoulder length black hair, and a plain, forgettable face.
"Don't give me that crap," the trident-haired warrior snapped, "You're not some criminal mastermind, and we're not your stooges. We completed our mission. We delayed them for more than half a day's travel time, and then reported the situation, so you could plan your move."
"And don't try pinning this fiasco on us," the computer expert warned, flashing his palmtop, "I had already filed Ayameko and Saburo's reservations about the impersonation scheme. Our leader already knows we warned you that the Leaf Ninja were making up lost time, and that we didn't have enough intel to pass a more than passing inspection."
The second Kunoichi chuckled. No longer wearing the form of Haruna, she now wore a green patch over her right eye. Her dirty blond hair was cut severely short, and her shozoku was ragged around the edges, and more than slightly revealing.
"What now?" Ayameko had dropped Sakura's guise, and was once again in her civilian styled garb. Her light eyes showed worry over the conflict between her allies, and her interruption and gentle tone were intended to forestall further bickering.
"Our leader is going to contact us within the hour," their appointed commander explained, "He has been informed of the situation, and will decide how to proceed."
"Okay, what's going on here?" Naruto demanded grumpily. After the boys had met up with the girls again, Sakura quickly foisted the giggly princesses onto Naruto. Haruna and Toki had proceeded to spend nearly an hour interrogating him about the Daimyo of the Land of Snow, and her actress alter ego. After they had dragged all the information they could out of the younger Chunin, the Ladies started to talk about summer plans and then the latest fashions. It was after another ten minutes of that that Naruto lost his temper.
"I mean, I thought this was supposed to be some kind of negotiations," he complained, "But you're acting like... like this is a slumber party."
Toki looked chagrined, but Haruna not the least bit off-put by the challenge.
"To be honest," the princess of the Birds admitted, "the basic structure of the alliance was set five months ago."
"So, what have your meetings been about, all this time?" Neji kept his voice down, but his tone was just as recriminating.
"We still had minor details to hammer out," Haruna answered defensively, "Various merchants and ministers who had to be assuaged, terms to tweak."
She did not seem convinced by her own argument, and both of the male ninja prepared to press their assault. But before they could, Toki spoke again.
"It's a lonely thing," she said in a sad voice, "Being a female ruler. People are much quicker to second-guess you, to try to bully you. Until I met Ha-chan, Chishima was the only friend I had. But even he didn't fully understand; how could he?"
"As we went through the early talks," Haruna picked up, "We realized we had a lot in common, beyond just being Daimyos and women. Along the way, we became friends, and so we drew out the negotiations, so we would have an excuse to visit."
"But then the Land of Grass began to pick up on your meetings, and tried to interfere," Sakura nodded her understanding.
"Yes," Toki said, "And we knew we had to sign the treaties before things escalated too far. That is the purpose of this summit. Today we will have our fun. Tomorrow we will go over the paperwork one more time, and on Wednesday we will have the formal signing. Assuming, of course, we don't find anything out of place tomorrow."
She grinned smugly at Haruna, as she offered the conditional.
"Hey," the younger ruler pouted, "I told you, that wasn't my fault. My minister of agriculture slipped that line item in, and I dismissed him as soon as we found it."
Toki chuckled at her, "I know, I know. But I have to give you grief about it, to make sure it doesn't happen again."
"So, if you will permit us our fun?" Toki turned back to the Leaf warriors, inclining her head slightly and asking their indulgence instead of ordering them.
"You coulda just told us from the beginning," Naruto shrugged, "You should both know I'm not one to stand on protocol."
"That's for sure," Sakura interjected.
"Speaking of that," Toki suddenly grew angry, and leaned in closer to Naruto, mysteriously drawing the Noroimusha katana from under her kimono.
"If you ever again announce in open court that you snuck in and saw me bathing..." she let the threat trail off, and then smiled sweetly. Unfortunately Sakura and Haruna's faces told him he might have been better off if Sagi's twin had cut if down then and there.
The tech ninja yanked the headset away as the loud, shrill voices overwhelmed him.
"We will have to move tomorrow," the senior Grass Ninja told the other four, "Our leader has given us permission to ignore the Daimyo's... request to keep Haruna safe, though we should still pretend we tried to protect his cousin. Unfortunately, we are still not allowed to kill or seriously injure Naruto Uzumaki. But there is a reward if we can capture him."
Ayameko sighed, "I suppose this means we will be going with a direct assault?"
"You and your delicate sensibilities," the other Kunoichi sneered.
"Of course," the would-be villain smiled broadly.
"So, Naruto-kun..." Haruna suddenly said. Toki had gone to speak with Chishima, taking Sakura as her escort. Neji had followed halfway behind them, so he could watch both princesses with his Byakugan. After she felt the others were gone, the leader of the Greens Country moved around the table to talk to the Chunin face to face.
"Is it really true you are with Hinata-san?" Haruna asked innocently.
"Yup," Naruto grinned happily, then he paused and his eyes narrowed, "Why did you say it like that?"
"It's just, I can't see it," she maintained her unassuming air, but spoke more carefully.
"I mean, you're total opposites," she explained simply, "You're loud and brash and ill-mannered. Not that that's a bad thing. And Hinata is quiet and gentle and polite. It doesn't seem like a good fit."
"Well, they say opposites attract," Naruto shrugged, unperturbed.
"Opposites attract," she agreed, "But likes last."
"Hinata and I have plenty in common," Uzumaki frowned at her, "We love dancing, and fantasy movies and books. We both like romantic comedies, though she prefers romance, while I go more for comedy."
Then his expression turned even more dark, "And we both know what is like to be lonely, and looked down on. We were the two of the three loser ninjas of the Konohagakure. I was the unfocused, untalented knucklehead; she was the unsuited heiress, weak of body and spirit. People just assumed they knew us, what we could do, and what we would do. And we've both grown past that."
"Naruto, I..." Haruna was taken aback, but was unsure what to say.
"I love Hinata," he told her, but not quite thinking of the Daimyo before him, "And I'm not going to let anyone come between us."
"Sakura," Naruto whispered, putting his head close to the door. When she did not respond, he said her name again, slightly louder.
Whether due to his inadvertent suggestion, or if they had planned it all along, Uzumaki did not know. But at the end of the night, the two princesses had pulled Sakura into Toki's chamber, while exiling Chishima, Naruto, and Neji to Chishima's private room. As Haruna closed the door, Naruto swore he heard the medic groan "Not again."
Still troubled by Neji's revelation on the first leg of their trip, Naruto snuck into the hall, and called for his friend's attention. Though the suite had fallen silent, Uzumaki doubted his teammate was asleep; she was too responsible to have taken her rest without informing them. He kept his voice down, not wanting to wake their clients.
On the third time he said her name, the door slid open. Despite the seriousness of his visit, Naruto almost lost it when he saw Sakura. Her hair had been knitted into dozens of tiny braids, jutting out of her head in every possible direction. Naruto snorted, and his eyes watered from trying to contain himself.
"What?" she growled, both from the interruption and from his reaction.
"What happened to your hair?" he asked carefully. Sakura touched her scalp, and then remembered what she had been subjected to.
"Those two are worse than Ino and Temari," she hissed quietly. She put her hands together, and the binders locking her hair in place exploded. Another burst of chakra, and the braids unraveled. Sakura shook her head, sighing in release as her quaff returned to its usual state. Then she looked at Naruto again, stern but no longer angry.
"What is it?" she demanded softly.
"There's something I need to talk to you about," he sobered. His surprisingly formal tone put the Kunoichi on edge.
"I want to know why you are being so..." he struggled with the phrasing, so it did not sound like an accusation, "why you have been so callous towards Hinata."
"What?" shocked, Sakura barely kept her voice down. Though he was not proud himself for thinking it, Naruto wondered if her amazement was from the allegation, or simply because he was the one making it.
"Did Hinata say that?" the pink-haired woman barked under her breath.
"Hinata would never snitch. And you know it," he shot back, "That's why you got away with it for so long."
"I should have noticed it sooner," he said sadly, "I first started to figure it out during the fight with the zombie actors last month. When Hinata said her Suigin Byakugan might not work against that Genjutsu, you rolled your eyes and said 'So much for that' in a really sarcastic tone. Even though there was nothing more any of the rest of us could have done, even Kakashi-sensei."
"I..." Sakura started to speak, but trailed off in thought and memory. She found she was unable to meet his eyes.
"I thought it might have been that you were mad Hinata took Sasuke's place," he told her, "Like you were with Sai. But the more I rolled it around in my head, the bigger it got. Like on my birthday, when you were leading us to the surprise party. I didn't hear exactly what you two said, but I could tell by your face and voice, you were hounding Hinata, and she looked really down about it."
Sakura bit her lip, remembering that she had basically accused the other woman of using her clan's money to buy Naruto's affections.
"And even before that, you were pretty snappish with her on the Reaper and Nyoko missions," he continued.
"So what's up?" he asked gently, but determinedly, "Did Hinata accidentally do something to make you mad? Or are you jealous of her growth or that she got a boyfriend first?"
Sakura inhaled sharply at that, and her confused look was replaced by a quick anger. But Naruto's disappointment cooled her off almost as fast.
"I don't know," she said softly, "I guess hanging around with you, and Kakashi-sensei, and Lady Tsunade... and Sasuke... I've gotten used to being abrasive. To needing to be direct, and even a little mean, to get my point across."
Then she smiled sadly, "And though I don't like to admit it, maybe I am a little jealous that Hinata found someone first. I always liked her, and I used to root for her; but to be honest, I generally expected she would be forced into an arranged marriage by her clan."
"I really didn't realize that it... I had gotten this bad," Sakura said regretfully, "I'm sorry, Naruto."
"It's not me you should apologize to," he said, almost inaudibly. As the blonde Chunin slipped back into Chishima's room, Sakura looked thoughtfully annoyed.
The next morning the two Daimyos and the three ninja returned to the conference room after breakfast. The two women quickly set out the sheaf of parchments, prepared brushes and ink for any last minute changes.
"Finally," Naruto grunted happily, "We can get this treatise signed, and shut down those Grass Ninja."
"The treaty won't be signed until tomorrow, knucklehead," Sakura said less aggressively than her usual corrections, "This is the final read-through."
"This is just a formality," Toki said, looking from her counterpart smugly, "Right?"
"To-chan... I mean Toki-dono, that will not be the case this time," Haruna protested.
"Of course not," the Bird Daimyo smiled more openly. The younger leader stuck out her tongue, but then she smiled too.
"Then let's begi...." Toki grew serious, but was cut off by an explosion near the edge of the palace. Another blast shook the entire room, and shortly thereafter they heard echoing shouts of the guards.
"Naruto, let's go," Neji ordered, "Sakura, stay with Lady Toki and Lady Haruna."
"Right," both younger shinobi answered in unison, and the two men rushed out.