Her Destiny

The Suna/Oto Agreement

Day 17

Itachi stood before the pink-haired Kage, noting that she didn't seem as mad anymore. Granted, he had avoided her for the last few weeks in an attempt to sooth her anger, but he didn't know her all that well, and didn't know if she could hold on to a grudge like his younger brother.

It seemed that she wasn't quite that unforgiving.

Kakuzu had made his appearance a week ago, quickly taking to the new village, offering his shrewd business logic to the pinkette. Itachi and the others had been quite surprised at how quickly Kakuzu had decided to make this new village his home, but he had explained that it offered a challenge that no other village could. It was new, it needed help, and he was willing to give it, as long as he was given the opportunity to train with the Kages and take a heart here and there, if need be.

Sakura had grinned, handing over the Oto hitai-ate to the ancient man.

And now he stood before the same woman, asking for the same opportunity.

"I have decided that I would like to say, Sakura-sama."

She gave him a small smile. Okay, not as angry as I thought she would be. Good.

"And what would you like to do, Itachi-san?"

"I would like to serve as a sensei and a psychiatrist. With my particular brand of Sharingan, I imagine that I will be able to help others in a more unique approach."

Sakura nodded, before gesturing behind her to his cousin, who stood behind her, holding a brand new Oto forehead protector. Shisui handed it to her, and she in turn handed it to Itachi.

"Welcome to Oto, Itachi-san. I hope that you can find happiness here."

Itachi nodded, getting ready to leave, when the door to the office opened, admitting the Suna delegation.

"Gaara, Kankuro, Temari, what can we do for you?" Sakura asked.

"We came to speak to you about the alliance, and to tell you that we must be heading back soon. We have already spent too much time here. Baki is probably nearing his wit's end," Gaara explained.

Sakura nodded. Itachi stood off to the side, having caught a look from his new Kage to stay put.

The Suna delegation sat in the chairs placed in front of her desk.

"Have you come to a decision, then?"

"Yes. We can see no reason not to ally ourselves with you. I would also like to propose that some of your med-nin come to Suna, as an exchange of sorts. We are lacking in the medical field."

"And what do you propose in exchange for that service?"

"We would offer Kankuro and Temari as instructors for the duration of the exchange."

Itachi's brows rose. That certainly wasn't something that he had expected.

"You put a lot of trust in me, Gaara."

"I know you Sakura. There is not another person on this planet who would hold to their offer and treat ours like their own. With you, I know that my siblings will be taken care of, and it will give Kankuro and Temari the opportunity to work with another village at their full capacity. Temari will still be expected to work at a liason with Konoha, but I imagine that she will be perfectly capable of doing both. Her soulmate resides here, and I do not wish to cause her any undue stress from being separated from him."

Temari's eyes sparkled at the idea of getting to stay near her soulmate.

"Obito can probably help with travel. His ability is quite handy."

Gaara nodded.

They spent the majority of the next few hours ironing out the new treaty, the details of the exchange, and then they spoke of the upcoming exam. Only a month left before the beginning.

"We have several teams that can go, but we would also like for some to be disguised under the Sand emblem. It would keep the other villages from questioning the large Sound turnout."

Gaara gave her a look. "You want your genin disguised as Sand genin?"

Sakura only nodded. "We have a lot of teams that have been brought up to standards, but it would be alarming to the other villages if we were to send fifteen teams to the first exams that Sound has been to since the Konoha incident."

Brows raised. "Fifteen?"

"Some teams were already trained before we got here. The majority of the others were trained after we got here. All of them have had training with the Kages, to some extent."

Gaara nodded. "Would you allow for some of our genin to train with your people for the next cycle?"

"That would be manageable. How many teams?"

"We have a new class graduating after the exams. We run in a 6 month graduation cycle. As it stands we have fourteen genin teams. Half of those will advance this next cycle, to be replaced with the new graduates. Could you take on five or six of our teams?"

Sakura thought about it, turning to Shisui for a moment. Shisui shrugged, but then disappeared in a shunshin, returning moments later with Shikamaru and Tobirama.

After explaining the details, Sakura asked the two men's opinions.

"If we will be giving them some of our medic nin, and they will be leaving the Kazekage's siblings, I imagine that we could probably take on some of the Sand teams, as part of the exchange. They can teach some of the wind techniques, seeing as we don't have many wind users here. It could be quite beneficial if we choose to do so," Tobirama explained.

Sakura turned to the two Uchiha and the Nara. "Any objections?"

Unanimous shakes to the negative were given. "Okay, then we will do this exchange, in the hopes that both villages profit from it."

Gaara and Sakura shook hands, sealing the deal, and then bowed to each other, before Sakura had Obito brought to the office so that he could help to gather the necessary med-nin and then transport them, as well as the Kazekage, back to Suna.