Love Through Negotiation «COMPLETED»

Chapter 13

The tapping had gone on for so long that Temari had tuned it out, preferring to read deeper into the proposal for the next jonin candidates. Instead of the chunin exams, the jonin were promoted through peer review, and for good reason. The jonin were supposed to each have their own uniqueness to them that made them indispensable to the fighting force. If that individuality was on display for the world to see, then it wouldn't be quite so individual anymore. It could easily be countered. And that wasn't good. Especially not for shino-

Kurotsuchi coughed, bringing Temari out of her focus. Right, the tapping. The sound of a foot repeatedly slapping the ground out of impatience. The girl hadn't budged an inch since she sat down, expecting Temari to speak first. If that was the intention, then she failed spectacularly. She should have brought reading material if she was going to out-stubborn Temari.

Temari glanced up to look at her face. The girl's lips were pursed in a thin line, her nostrils were flared, and her brow was pressed downwards.

She was pissed.

Fu on the other hand…

Temari glanced to her next, sitting to Kurotsuchi's left. Head supported in her hands with her elbows on her thighs. She was the epitome of 'dour'. Temari had a feeling that the green haired girl had to be dragged by someone else to come to the summons, presumably Kurotsuchi.

"Okay…" Kurotsuchi ground out in a deep growl. "I'll bite. What do you want?" It was an accusatory remark. The presumption of guilt clear in her mind.

Temari set down her pen with a clink and leaned back a little bit, stretching out her spine and twisting the kinks out of her neck. "To talk," she said. "I haven't been able to talk to you all at home due to my workload, but this is a conversation that needs to happen."

Kurotsuchi's eyes squinted. "This should be good."

Temari's head tilted down slightly as she sighed out. "I understand the two of you had feelings for Naruto. And me… let's call it 'intruding' threw a bit-"

"Fucking."

Temari blinked. "Excuse me?"

"You called it intruding. I'm calling it fucking."

Temari's eyes closed. "I understand you're upset, but-"

Kurotsuchi stood up. "But what? I get that your brother died and everything, but that doesn't give you the right to screw him. I-" Her voice died in her throat as a slight growl.

"You love him too," Temari finished.

Kurotsuchi sat back down, this time with a more dejected air. "I don't love him-"

"You don't know how you feel, I know," Temari said hurriedly, "It's part of why I called you two here."

Fu looked up. "What's going on? I don't want to waste any more time here."

"I was getting to that," Temari said calmly and evenly. God, this wasn't going to plan. Then again, it wasn't like she had a plan; just a mental list of possible outcomes with most of them ending up badly. "It seems that Naruto… loves us all in one way or another and is also quite confused over it."

Kurotsuchi's eyes widened and Fu looked interested for the first time since she opened the door. "What's that mean?" She asked warily.

"I… 'approached' Naruto when-"

"Fucked," Kurotsuchi said.

Temari took a calming breath. "I fucked Naruto when I knew that you had feelings for him and when he had feelings for you. I get it. It's my bad. I'm admitting that. The end result is that even though I'm very much in love with Naruto and he seems to reciprocate that love, he's very much confused now. It's understandable, really. I called you in here to tell you that."