Love Through Negotiation «COMPLETED»

Chapter 1

The room was silent and heavy with the air of disbelief. Everyone heard exactly what she said without any problems, but the ones who weren't privy to her previous negotiations couldn't believe their ears. It had to be a joke, the preamble of a longer, more saddening situation that needed to be lightened beforehand.

In front of her desk was a row of six people, the ones most affected by the negotiations. And behind them were their heads of state minus two. The ones in front were Kurotsuchi of Rock, Yugito of Cloud, Fu of Waterfall, Naruto of Leaf, Mei of Mist, and Temari of Sand. Behind them were Onoki, Ai, Shibuki, and Gaara.

Kurotsuchi was the first one to break. "This is a joke, right?" she asked dangerously with a smile on her face. The smile showed her teeth in a most unnatural way. It was a smile that just screamed 'this better be a joke, or I'm clawing someone's throat out'.

Tsunade smiled back, though hers was real and triumphant. "Absolutely not. Welcome to the most influential political marriage of all time."

Yugito's jaw was rapidly clenching and unclenching. Despite her faith in her poker face and dutiful loyalty to her leadership, there were things that couldn't be allowed for. She wouldn't overtly speak out at the meeting, but a quick glance to Ai was all she needed to do to get the fact across that she didn't find it acceptable in the slightest and that there would be a follow-up.

Maybe even a refusal to do her job.

Fu looked shocked, but didn't share in the righteous indignation of the rest. It was unexpected, to be sure, but she was so used to talks in which she gave up at the very idea of friendship or voluntarily exiled herself into the forest, that the realization that she had a husband instead of a suicide mission was enough for her to not speak out at it.

Mei looked... well, it was always hard to tell what she was thinking through her face. She had a smile that looked genuine enough, but anyone who knew her knew that that was a mask of sorts. Anyone who knew her well, knew that the mask wasn't necessarily bad. Some wore masks to hide their pain and sorrow. She wore a mask to do everything from hiding her intent to kill someone, all the way to playfully teasing her subordinates.

Temari didn't know what to think. Her immediate thought was that of a certain lazy Nara who... well, they weren't dating. And it wasn't like she was crushing particularly hard on him. But still. She glanced at her 'husband'. Absolutely not. No way. This couldn't work out. She wouldn't allow it to.

Kurotsuchi was already turned around in her seat and yelling at her grandpa, the Third Tsuchikage. His face was steely and cold. He rebuked all of her efforts in denial by the simple order of "Kurotsuchi, sit down, and stop talking."

Kurotsuchi's mouth closed before her brain told it to. Her gramps was a stubborn old fool, but there was a reason why he was considered the strongest ninja in the village, not to mention his storied experience. He wasn't a man to upset when he got serious.

She settled for crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at her 'husband' out of the corner of her eye.

Tsunade raised a single brow. She'd expected the groom to be the one who was most vocal. Perhaps that was just the result of his training with Jiraiya, but his face made her feel that was false. He was just staring at her desk with wide eyes and a frown marring his face. When he looked up and saw her questioning gaze, he didn't know what to say.

"Th-This is a joke, right?" he asked, reiterating Kurotsuchi's previous question. "This can't be real."

It wasn't quite accurate to say that she enjoyed seeing him like that, but he was long overdue for a reality check. Her face softened for him. "It's a long story. We'll-"