Chapter Text
“Argh! I can’t believe this!”
The loud, distinctly frustrated voice of Temari rung through the Kazekage’s office, so loudly it caused the stack of paper piled upon the desk to shake slightly. Sasori quickly steadied it before it was able to spill across the floor.
“Do you even understand how important the meeting tomorrow is for our nation? For Sunagakure? You can’t afford to be slacking!”
Temari slammed her fists upon the table now. She was always the fiercest of Rasa’s three children, those who now formed the team under Sasori’s tutelage. Though, they also taught him much. As the next descendants of the Kazekage line, they guided the new Kazekage through the trials the Land of Wind’s leader was required to face.
Sasori let out a deep sigh. He’d been Kazekage for nearly a year now, yet it felt as if every day brought new challenges. It was rather unprecedented for someone outside the Kazekage bloodline to be appointed as Kazekage – in fact, it was the first time in the history of Sunagakure.
But he had been personally recommended by the Third Kazekage himself, as well as the entire Sunagakure council. His accomplishments in the Third Shinobi War had been so impressive, and he had mastered the iron sand technique through his usage of his puppets. Not to mention, he was undoubtedly far stronger than the next in the Kazekage bloodline, Rasa, and more popular with the council. Though, he suspected Chiyo and Ebizo had something to do with that…
At first, he’d accepted the role simply out of a sense of duty and obligation. All these people were relying on him, after all. But after a while, he’d found a sense of enjoyment from it. Taking on Rasa’s three children as his genin team to train had been quite fulfilling, and one even showed a great talent for his own puppet art. But Temari and Gaara showed great promise in their own fields, too… The future of the Sand did indeed look bright.
“Tomorrow, the new Tsuchikage is coming to visit Sunagakure for the first time. This could be a turning point for our two nations! And you know how much emphasis they put on formalities over in Iwagakure. It’s of the utmost importance that you make a good impression!” Temari explained once more, desperation all too obvious.
Sasori, however, was distracted, reading through the first on the pile of his pending papers. He liked to keep organised, and the existence of such a pile to begin with irked him. He’d been falling behind lately, his time taken up by Temari’s persistent ‘etiquette lessons’.
Temari was having none of this, however, snatching the paper out of his hand to grab his attention.
“Now, one more time. Pretend I’m the new Tsuchikage. Smile, and formally greet me.” She looked directly into his eyes, not losing a shred of her fierceness.
Sasori gave a rather strained, uncomfortable grimace.
“It’s good to finally meet you, Lord Tsuchikage. We… hope you will enjoy your stay in Sunagakure.”
He gave another, wider smile, but one which unfortunately only resembled a great, rather malicious looking smirk.
“I can’t believe this… Are you even trying?” Temari sounded as if she’d lost all the energy to even look frustrated any more, though still she tried nonetheless.
“Come on, Temari, you knew this was a lost cause. I think we’d have a better time if we just selected one of his puppets to greet the Tsuchikage instead. Probably would have a greater emotional range, you know?” Kankuro added, smirking as he spoke.
“Hmm. I think I have some ideas as to which one might be best suited for the task…” The usually rather soft-spoken Gaara added.
Temari slammed her fists on the table once more.
“Dammit! You two, could you at least try to take this seriously? Honestly, you’re all so hopeless! Stop encouraging him!”
“Well, if you continue like this, I’m not sure we’ll even have a Kazekage by tomorrow. You know what he’s like, Temari. Did you really think you’d be able to teach him social skills in three days?”
Kankuro sighed, shooting Sasori an apologetic look.
“Please, you know you’re only defending him because you want him to teach you that new puppetry technique you haven’t been able to stop talking about. Don’t think I can’t see through you, brother.”
“Calm down, you two. Bickering like this isn’t going to get anywhere…” Gaara spoke quietly, an attempt to dispel the situation. It was a role he often tried to fill.
Sasori sighed once again.
“Temari, I... appreciate all the help you have given me. Truly, I do. But you know as well as I do that the discontent between our nations runs deep, and has for generations now. This meeting isn’t going to achieve what you think it will. I know I have much to learn in the arts of social niceties and etiquette, but even if I was a master at it, it would not change a thing.”
Temari looked at him now, her frustration giving way to a slight look of sadness. She was admitting defeat, perhaps knowing deep down that Sasori’s words rung true. Was she being naive, expecting – hoping – that things would finally change?
Of course she was. Sasori was Sasori – and Sunagakure and Iwagakure were enemies. Always had been, always would be. The way that Sasori smiled was hardly going to change anything.
And so, reluctantly, she gave in.
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The next day arrived far too quickly, at least for Sasori. The ‘lessons’ with Temari, Kankuro and Gaara, or rather, with Temari – the other two only really watched with expressions of varying levels of concern – had taken a fair amount of time out of his day, leaving him little time to himself. The stack of papers piled on his desk had only slightly reduced in size, and the blueprint for the new puppet he’d been working on had to be shelved for a later date. It was deeply frustrating.
However, it was the day of the new Tsuchikage’s visit, so it couldn’t be helped. Sasori woke up bright and early, dressing quickly in his Kazekage robes in preparation for the visit. He wasn’t excited to meet the Tsuchikage – far from it, if the man was anything like Onoki had been, it would be a rather dry, tedious affair. However, he disliked keeping people waiting, whoever it might be.
He stood in position by the gates of Sunagakure, preparing to receive their new visitor. He’d been through this procedure once before, when the previous Tsuchikage, Onoki, had come to visit. That had been not long after he had been made Kazekage. It had been an overly formal affair, Onoki hiding his distaste for Sunagakure and the Land of Wind behind a series of forced niceties.
And this new Tsuchikage was apparently Onoki’s grandson. If he was anything like his grandfather, which Sasori had no reason to think he wouldn’t be, this would be a rather tedious affair indeed.
Not to mention, it was pulling him away from catching up on his backlog of work. He could think of a million things he would rather do now than stand by the gates of Sunagakure, dressed in full Kazekage attire.
Not to mention, their visitor was running late. It became distinctly more obvious to Sasori with each passing minute, as the morning turned to afternoon. Perhaps it was because the new Tsuchikage had not travelled to Suna before, and was unfamiliar with the route.
Though, there weren’t supposed to be any sandstorms today… He should have left sufficient time for the journey, been better prepared, Sasori thought to himself. He couldn’t stand wasting his time like this. Perhaps his genin team could sense this, as Kankuro shot him a sympathetic look, Temari one of warning.
Thankfully, he wasn’t to be kept waiting for much longer. For soon the figures of the Iwagakure company appeared on the horizon, and soon before the village gates themselves, ready to be received by Sunagakure. Sasori already recognised the girl who was travelling towards the front of the group as one of the lead advisors to the previous Tsuchikage, Onoki’s granddaughter Kurotsuchi.
So, she was now the sister to the new Tsuchikage.
He scanned the group quickly, trying to locate Onoki’s successor. However, none of the small group seemed to be wearing the robes of the Tsuchikage. That was odd. Had he become lost along the way? Or assassinated? That wasn’t entirely unheard of…
“It is good to see you again, Lord Kazekage.” Kurotsuchi greeted him, just as formally as she had the last time, though her smile seemed warm.
“Likewise-”
Sasori was abruptly cut off, as his Kazekage hat was knocked suddenly off his head. Odd, there wasn’t a breeze blowing that day, and he’d fastened it quite securely, too…
“That’s much better! Finally, we can see your face, un.”
He jumped visibly, as the face of a young man suddenly appeared right in front of his eyes, coming in uncomfortably close. He must’ve been the one who had pushed the hat off his head, then. Sasori observed him closely, trying to figure out if they had met before, but it was difficult to from such a short distance.
Still, even from this distance he could tell the man had long, flowing golden hair, quite unlike any he’d seen before. Surely, if he’d met this man before, he would have remembered…
Not to mention, the way he was acting was unlike any of the other visitors from Iwagakure.
“...Who are you?” Sasori asked quickly, slightly flustered as he moved to pick up his hat and bring the meeting back on track.
The blonde, however, grabbed his arms before he could retrieve the hat, pulling him close.
“I’m Deidara, un! The fourth Tsuchikage, or something like that. Just call me Deidara.” He insisted, shaking his hands excitedly as if he was a child greeting a best friend.
Wait, this was the next Tsuchikage, the one he was supposed to be meeting? Sasori looked in astonishment, quite unable to believe what he had just heard. Now he
could get a proper look, this man looked absolutely nothing like he’d imagined, quite the polar opposite to Onoki.
He wasn’t even wearing the robes of the Tsuchikage, instead dressed rather casually in a cropped shirt and mesh armour. Sasori noticed Kurotsuchi was holding them in a bundle in his arms, along with the Tsuchikage hat. Deidara must have noticed him glancing towards them.
“What, do I not look the part? They weren’t artistic enough, so I discarded them, un. It’s a pointless tradition anyway. And the hat ruins my hairstyle, too.” He gestured towards the messy half ponytail he wore at the top of his head.
Sasori could only watch on in disbelief, utterly lost for words.
“So you must be the Kazekage, huh? Kurotsuchi told me about you. Puppet master, Sasori of the Red Sand, hero of Sunagakure, strongest shinobi in the Sand, and so on. But she never told me you were beautiful! If I’d known that, then I would’ve visited a lot sooner, un.” Deidara grinned, the one visible eye not covered by his hair gleaming with enthusiasm.
“I’m… what?” Sasori looked completely dumbfounded. Not even Temari’s etiquette lessons could have prepared him for this situation, not in a million years.
“You’re really beautiful! I mean, out of the Kages I’ve met so far, you would win no contest. I can’t believe none of the records in Iwagakure ever thought to mention that. I’ll need to amend them once I return, un.”
Sasori wasn’t sure if this new Tsuchikage was messing with him or simply completely insane. He could hear faint giggling coming from behind him, voices distinctly belonging to Temari and Kankuro. No, even Gaara seemed to be joining in…
Kurotsuchi, Akatsuchi and the rest of the group from Iwagakure looked completely serious, however, which only added to his confusion. Sasori hadn’t the slightest clue what to make of the situation, though it certainly was not as boring as Onoki’s visit had been.
And he had just called him beautiful...
Sasori had never been called beautiful before. It was a word he used frequently to describe his own creations, his masterfully, carefully crafted puppets, though most did not share the sentiment. Well, aside from perhaps Kankuro, and his grandmother on a good day.
It secretly pleased him, to think he could be thought of in such a light.
“So then, what kinds of art do you produce in this village?” Deidara asked him, still tightly holding on to Sasori’s arm.
“A-Art? You mean, like puppets…?”
“Yeah, sure. Just show me what art you make here. I would like to see it. I’m always looking for more inspiration, you see.”
“I will show you to my office, and there we can discuss, uh, affairs.” Sasori responded, stumbling awkwardly over his words.
Behind him, Temari and Kankuro exchanged glances, smirking as they did so. This new Tsuchikage was certainly providing a great deal more entertainment than they had been expecting.
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“As you can see, this is a map of the current borders of Sunagakure. The regions shaded in red are all infertile, dry land, almost completely unusable to us… Are you even listening to me?”
Sasori was interrupted by Deidara suddenly reaching forwards, stroking him gently atop his head.
“Please go on! You were saying something about the, uh, land, right?”
“...What are you doing?” Sasori asked, baffled but not nearly as irritable as the three genin watching the situation unfolding had expected. That would have been the reaction they’d expected from their usually rather grumpy sensei, after all.
“You looked moody and miserable, so I was trying to cheer you up. Release the tension. Being Kazekage sounds stressful, un. All that stuff to think about, when you should be focusing on your art. Also, your hair is really soft, you know?”
Once again, Sasori could only look at him in complete disbelief.
Though, it wasn’t as if he didn’t have a point. He was feeling rather overworked lately, and he had wanted nothing more than a moment to himself to work on his puppets in peace. His ‘art’, as the new Tsuchikage had just described.
He turned slightly pink with embarrassment at the realisation that this strange, overly familiar yet oddly comforting Tsuchikage seemed able to read him so well. Even his touch was rather reassuring, relaxing… Comforting, even. It was rare for one to show affection so openly in the Sand, and he was unused to it.
“I… Hmph. Perhaps you are right. We can leave this discussion until another time.”
Temari, Kankuro and Gaara exchanged glances of complete shock. They were all watching the situation unfold now with the utmost attention.
“Good! Glad that’s settled, then. That wasn’t too hard now, was it?”
Deidara launched himself off the corner of the desk where he’d been sitting – he seemed to have an aversion to chairs, to acting like a normal person would – and started skipping around Sasori’s Kazekage office. Sasori sighed, leaning back in his chair.
He reached into his desk to pull out one of his puppet scrolls, but the minute his eyes were averted, he heard a rather loud bang. He looked up, startled, noticing a scorched mark on the edge of his desk where the stack of papers he’d been sorting through had been.
“What was that?”
Deidara was humming a tune, knocking things over and rearranging ornaments within his office as he went. Though technically, it wasn’t really much of his office – he had a personal studio where he worked on his own projects which was much more fitted to his tastes. This was simply the room within which he conducted formal affairs as the Kazekage, and was decorated by his predecessors.
“I’m redecorating, un! This place could use a bit more artistic flare to it. Whoever designed it really did not have an eye for style…” Deidara answered cheerfully, enthusiastically knocking over a vase as he went.
Sasori normally hated to witness such destruction, creations lost forever. Admittedly, however, it was not one he’d cared for much, so he wasn’t disappointed to see it go.
“But, this office was designed by my...”
“I have no idea how you could possibly work in such a stuffy place like this. Kurotsuchi told me you’ve been Kazekage for a year, and the thought never crossed your mind? You really are a strange one, un.”
“Um, I’m not sure that I have the authority to do that.” Sasori responded quietly, watching Deidara spin around the room, causing destruction wherever he went. It would take him hours to clean up all this mess, but there was something rather mesmerising about the way the Tsuchikage moved, something intentional, artistic in his movements and patterns.
Ugh, what was he even saying to himself? There was no such thing as art in destruction, only in the eternal.
“You’re the Kazekage, of course you do! And now, you have the authority to show me the best place to get dinner in all of Sunagakure. I’m hungry, Sasori no Danna.”
“D-Danna?”
Temari giggled. The door to the office had opened slightly now, and Chiyo and Ebizo, amongst other members of the Sunagakure council, were peeping their head around the door to observe the quite extraordinary scene. Even the quiet, stoic Gaara was completely transfixed.
“What, you wanted me to call you Kazekage? Fine, take me to the best place to eat in all of Sunagakure, Lord Kazekage Sasori no Danna.” Deidara repeated, pulling Sasori’s arm with such force that he knocked his desk over in the process.
Sasori looked slightly concerned by the destruction he had just caused, though he was admittedly feeling rather hungry himself, so he relented, attempting to block out the gazes of what felt like the entire Sand village watching them walk through the streets of Sunagakure.
He was almost certain Temari, Kankuro and Gaara had been following them, at the very least. They weren’t nearly as discreet as they thought they were, Chiyo even less so.
And therefore, when Deidara had unexpectedly pulled him into a kiss along the way, it had felt as if the entire village of Sunagakure had born witness to it. The way Deidara had so dramatically pulled him in, and the way Sasori had turned so red that his face appeared to match his hair.
They were the strangest combination of personalities, and yet they seemed destined for each other. Fate really did work in the strangest of ways, sometimes.
From that day on, Sunagakure and Iwagakure grew extremely close indeed, an achievement and bond which was credited almost entirely to the work of the Fourth Kazekage and Tsuchikage’s hard work.
Of course, the true story behind such an achievement was rather widely known, especially amongst those who had met the Tsuchikage and Kazekage themselves. Though, even those who hadn’t had heard the tales of how inseparable they had been ever since that fated first meeting.
Sometimes, even a tale was told of Sasori blushing as red as the sand after which he’d earned his title. A few claimed it had even been the fourth Tsuchikage himself who had started that particular joke, though this was merely a rumour.
The day after the Tsuchikage had left the village, following that fateful first meeting, the three Sand siblings burst into Sasori’s office, for once not bothering to knock.
Kankuro was the first to speak.
“So, when’s the wedding?”