Love Through Negotiation «COMPLETED»

Chapter 22

Most villages made announcements of major importance from the kage tower, as the tower was usually the most central point and or the highest point in the village.

Not so for the village hidden in clouds. Made in the mountaintops clearing low altitude clouds, there weren't many flat spaces for many people to gather at once. And so, they made one for just such an occasion. Structured like a very large amphitheater, there were great rows of seats large enough for the entire populace to view said announcement, performance, or other such event of importance.

It was Naruto's turn to be up there. Him along with his political harem, Ai, and Bee, of whom he had just met an hour prior. He was a good man. Yugito had compared them together, which Naruto couldn't see in the slightest, yet drew sounds of confirmation from the rest of his peers.

Ai was giving a speech in front of all of them. The entire populace knew of the treaty at that point, but they were still doing rounds. Must have been for the sake of equitable treatment, or something like that. He wasn't even 100% on what equity meant or how it differed from equality. Temari had been inadvertently lecturing him about how economics and social systems worked since he arrived at the house allotted to them from Yugito's apartment. It was interesting to be sure, but he didn't think he would ever have a full grasp of its entirety.

The man was still speaking and he couldn't really concentrate on it. He was looking at the populace's faces. There wasn't a glimmer of a glower anywhere. They were all elated and hopeful. They had faith that the treaty would work. And why wouldn't they? An entire troupe of shinobi from various nations had banded together and risked everything for the sole purpose of saving one of their most respected protectors.

Naruto snapped out of it when Ai took a step back and Yugito took a step forward. She stood in front of everyone, garbed in her normal shinobi attire. Her back was rigid and her face as hard as stone.

"You know me as Yugito Nii of the hidden cloud," she said loudly, her voice carrying across the entire range. The audiences' faces changed slightly. She was respected like Bee, but there was a bit of worry present on their faces. She obviously didn't inspire the hearts like he could. And considering the way she acted until very recently, Naruto would have guessed they might even have had an amount of fear when they looked at her.

"I'll try to keep my time speaking brief. You all are very busy and we're all eating away at your time. I just feel like I had to speak about something important to me as it pertains to this treaty."

She paused. Her voice had been getting wobbly towards the end of her sentence. She looked down, took a deep breath, and looked back up to address the crowd. "Before being selected as a member of a political marriage, I didn't like the village hidden in leaves very much."

There was a murmur of slight laughter across the crowd, though many of them didn't know how to interpret her words. "And… when I found out I was going to be a member of a political marriage, I liked them even less." Her words had a lightness to them and her small, sheepish grin told the crowd that it was okay to laugh a little bit.

"I liked it so little that… perhaps when our tempers were a little bit higher than they should have been, me and… Mr. Uzumaki had a sparring session, which was little more than a ploy to beat the shit out of the other person. And… it, uhh… went a little bit too far. I almost killed him."

The crowd went silent.

"Under normal circumstances, that would be it. Treaty over. Nice try. Better luck next time. But it wasn't, or else I wouldn't be standing in front of you all today, smiling instead of grimacing in regret. The reason it wasn't was because he covered for me, said it was an accident or something- I don't quite remember. He… forgave me. He laid some blame on me, laid some blame on himself, then I helped carry him back to the house we were staying at when he couldn't do it myself. And I was walking there, with him on my back considering him. Thinking of how we were different and how we might be similar."