Banteki, fortunately, was not anywhere nearby. The large man who reeked of bloodlust had done his mission of delivering both scroll and girl (more or less) and was already headed back to Takigakure. It was fortunate because she'd been half-expecting to hear some civilian had insulted him and then been ripped into bloody gibbets.
So much paperwork would have resulted.
"Good, you two are here," said Tsunade. "I take it you're Fuu of Takigakure?"
"Yes," said Fuu, sounding a bit uncertain.
Tsunade nodded. "So you already know why you're here?"
"Yes, Naruto wanted to introduce me to you," said Fuu.
"Wrong," said Tsunade. "Do you know about the contract?"
"What contract?" asked Fuu and Naruto in an odd chorus.
"Genin Naruto Uzumaki of Konohagakure," said Tsunade, smirking as she savored what two reactions would be like. "Genin Fuu of Takigakure. By an old arrangement - you are now engaged to be married. Congratulations."
Tsunade's smirk turned up two notches. Fuu cocked her head to the side and looked confused. Naruto's eyes had become nearly circular, his jaw had dropped, and he looked sort of ashen.
"Wha-wha-what?" finally managed Naruto.
"Of course, it's an engagement, so all sorts of things can happen down the road," said Tsunade. "However, the arrangement will be allowed for now."
"B-but what about Sakura-chan?" asked Naruto.
"My apprentice?" asked Tsunade. "Hasn't she repeatedly told you 'no'? What part of 'no' do you not understand?"
"Ack," replied Naruto.
"Actually," said Tsunade thoughtfully. "This is handy. With Sasuke Uchiha having decided to abandon the village, there is an opening on Team 7. Fuu's engagement to you requires she spend time in the village. So the new Team 7 will be composed of Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, and Fuu. Did you get that, Tori?"
An ANBU materialized and bowed once to the Hokage before vanishing again to file the paperwork.
"B-but?" tried Naruto.
"Naruto, you had a HOLE blasted into your chest by Sasuke Uchiha," said Tsunade. "If Jiraiya hadn't investigated the explosions of chakra, you'd be dead. If Jiraiya hadn't gotten you to me in time - you'd be dead. Choji Akimichi very nearly died. Neji Hyuga nearly died. Not one member of the team sent to rescue Sasuke came back without injury. If Gaara's team had not volunteered and came riding to the rescue - most of those injuries would have been fatal. Sasuke Uchiha CHOSE to go with them - otherwise you would have been able to get him to come back when you two were alone. Instead he blew a hole in your chest."
"It's just that cursemark messing with his head!" declared Naruto.
Tsunade took a seat behind her desk and stared at Naruto a moment or two before replying. "If a man gets drunk and beats their wife - are they responsible or is the alcohol? If someone uses a combat drug, goes berserk, and kills civilians - is the drug responsible or the person who uses it? You can choose NOT to use the cursemark. One of the tokubetsu jonin here in Konoha has that cursemark and chooses not to use it."
"But..."
"I won't put a price out on his head, yet," said Tsunade. "But as of now he is officially a missing-nin. Chameleon?"
Another ANBU appeared, bowed to the Hokage, and vanished to carry out the relevant paperwork.
"But..."
"I look forward to seeing how well you work in your new environment, Fuu," said Tsunade. "You two are dismissed. I'll speak with you again later but I have other duties to carry out at this point."
"But..."
Shizune flipped the document around on the desk so that Sakura could read it.
Sakura read the document, then stared, then re-read the document. "This can't be right."
"Apparently it is," said Shizune. "The one with Fuu is nearly identical. Ibiki has a handwriting analyst and a codebreaker that have gone over it. It seems to be official."
"A marriage contract," said Sakura. "Just one is unusual, but four?"
"This one has a seal at the bottom for authentification purposes," said Shizune. "So this is apparently a marriage contract between Naruto and -"
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(Posted Sat, 06 Jun 2015 15:40)
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