Kaze no koibitō

9

Temari eyeballed her date from across the table, totally oblivious to the rest of her surroundings. Naruto slowly chewed his food, trying to draw out a little more time before she began to bombard him with questions. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw her assume her 'cute, pouting pose' as he'd dubbed it. She leaned both elbows on the table and rested her chin on her cradled fingers, while smiling sweetly and batting her eyelashes. She didn't say a word, but Naruto sighed and sat his fork down.

"You know, you're getting really good at begging like that. Perhaps we should transfer you to the interrogation department. No prisoner would be able to withstand that pouty look."

She grinned and closed her eyes.

"I know. Now how about you tell me why there's an oversized rat in my family's home."

He took a deep breath and pushed his plate away. This might take a while.

"As you know, his name is Sanzoku and he's a red panda. I signed the raccoon contract earlier today and became the first summoner for them in hundreds of years. They had their reasons for contacting me, but I won't tell you yet. I'd rather show you."

"When?"

"Tonight."

"All right. So how have you enjoyed your first year here in Suna?"

Naruto smiled and took a sip of his iced tea.

"Temari, I love it here. This place has become my home more than Konoha ever will be. I love you guys. You treat me like a human being instead of a disease. It's a little dusty but I can live with that."

"How about your class? How are they coming along?"

"You should know. You hang out and watch whenever you're not on a mission. The class is great; those kids have talent, some more so than others. But they're all coming along nicely. They all have the basics down to a science."

"So? What are you going to teach them this year?"

Naruto rubbed his chin and sat back in his chair.

"I think...I'll teach them a few low powered jutsus. I'm going to request a taijutsu expert come by and a genjutsu expert as well. I'm not...very proficient in either of those. While I've come a long way in a year, my taijutsu is still abysmal compared to Lee's.

"Everyone's is abysmal compared to Lee's."

"Yeah, true, but my genjutsu ability is simply nil. I don't have any talent in it and these kids need every advantage they can get in the ninja world. If I can't give it to them, it's my responsibility to make sure that they get that education."

"Uzumaki Naruto, the poster boy schoolteacher. Never thought I'd live to see it become a reality."

"Me either. I mean, me, a schoolteacher. Who'da thunk it, you know?"

"Hmm. So when are Tsunade and Jiraiya going to visit?"

"They still don't know yet, but they're going to bring some of my friends with them to visit. Knowing Tsunade, it'll be a surprise visit so she can see the look on my face. Now enough about me, how about you? How's your past year been?"

Temari cupped her cheeks with her hands and leaned on the table again.

"It's been pretty good. I've got a gourmet chef as a roommate and he's also a pretty good masseuse. My year was kind of routine except for when I hang out with him. I always have fun around him, but he keeps dating other women."

Naruto grinned at the not-so-subtle jabs. Before he moved to Suna, he never would've taken Temari as a jealous person.

"Well, maybe this guy does that because a certain sandy blonde told him to date other women..."