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They arrived at around noon. The meeting was to be in the evening. So they had a few hours before they had to really go to anywhere. With time to kill, Chojuro wasn't sure if he wanted to greet Naruto and the other new Kage early, or wait and see.
They had checked into the inn first thing, because they were going to stay the night, and then head out in the morning. Misuno had suggested taking a look around the village. So they did.
If Chojuro had wanted to see Darui ever again, he would've stopped by the Village Hidden in the Clouds on missions, but he had specifically always avoided it ever since that Kage Summit. The one that changed Chojuro's entire perspective on the world. It made him know he was gay. It also made him want to never see Darui, because they had left on such an awkward note. And if he didn't forget, he was sure Darui hadn't forgotten either.
But he didn't think he'd see him here, as the Raikage.
It had started as a simple walk around the village. He thought it was amazing; the difference from then and now. He and Misuno were talking for a bit, commenting on the village, and then he saw him.
Chojuro stopped dead in his tracks, his smile disappearing. His eyes widened. His mouth went dry. Misuno had noticed, and stopped next to him.
"Lord Sixth, are you alright?" She asked.
He didn't hear her. His eyes were fixed on the man ahead. Dark skin, fluffy white hair, some covering one of his eyes, that one piercingly handsome eye that is on display; it had to be him.
After several years, here he was: Darui.
"No... it can't be..." Chojuro breathed.
"Lord... Sixth?" Misuno repeated, trying to get his attention.
"This was a bad idea, I need to go." Chojuro said. He turned to Misuno, and put his hat on her. "If he asks any questions, you are the Mizukage, just for these few minutes." Without another word, he dove into the nearest ally, just as Darui turned around.
"Wait, this-"
"Hello." Misuno turned to Darui. "You must be the Sixth Mizukage. It's nice to meet you." He said, sticking out a hand.
"S-sixth Mizu- o-oh! Yes!" She cleared her throat, finally processing what happened. She took his hand. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Lord Fifth."
"Please, Darui would be fine." Darui said, his smile faltering a bit.
"If she's the Mizukage, did she not bring a retainer, or is she an impostor?" Chojuro heard Darui's adversary mutter. "And if she's an impostor, how did she get her hands on the hat? Is the real Mizukage alright? Are they dead? Or hurt? Am I overthinking things again?"
What is up with this guy? Chojuro wondered.
"As much as I wish I were the Mizukage, I'm not." Chojuro face-palmed. "Lord Sixth apparently did not want to see you, so he gave me the hat and left."
Darui frowned, thinking for a moment, then barked a laugh. "No way... Chojuro is Mizukage?"
HOWTHEHECKDIDHEFIGUREITOUTOHGODOHGODOHGOD-
"How did you know?" Misuno asked, cocking an eyebrow.
"Oh, we go way back. We met when we were just retainers of the previous Kage, at a Kage Summit. I know exactly why he wouldn't want to see me."
"And why is that?" Misuno pressed, taking a threatening step forward. Omoi's hand slipped to his weapon.
Oh no, is there going to be a fight? I need to step in. Chojuro quickly sprang from his hiding place, and went between the two Jonnin. "Woah, woah, woah, calm down. We're all on the same side here, Misuno."
"Well, speak of the devil." Darui grinned. "Didn't think I'd ever meet you again at a Kage Summit!"
Chojuro shuddered involuntarily at his sleazy tone. "I have nothing to say to you." He said harshly, and started walking away. "Come on, Misuno."
"Aw, come on! Don't be like that!" Darui protested, catching Chojuro by the wrist. Chojuro pulled away immediately. "That was years ago! Can't we move on as fellow Kage?"
"With that single action, you had changed my entire life." Chojuro hissed. "That cannot go unaddressed."
"Oh, I did?" Darui grinned. "Aw, you flatter me."
"No! That's not- rrgh! Can't you understand I'm still mad at you?!"
"Of course I can." Darui shrugged. "But if you still feel so strongly about it, that must mean I did something right~"
"You-!" Chojuro cut himself off, and took a deep breath. "Can you be serious for one second?"
"Sure, but I don't know why you'd need me to be serious for such a short amount of time." Darui shrugged. Omoi and Misuno snickered. Chojuro glared at her.
"I'm done trying to talk to you." He sighed, and turned to walk away once again.
"Oh, before you go," He took Chojuro by the arm and whispered in his ear. "I know I'm irresistible, but I never thought I'd get you to love me." And then he walked off.
Chojuro stood there, trying to sputter out words, but he couldn't speak. "You- I DO NOT!!!" He shouted after him.
"Yeah, whatever you say, bud." Darui called back, before he was out of sight. Chojuro was trembling with rage, his cheeks a deep red.
"That little-! I see him again for less than five minutes, and that- that sleazebag just- I can't believe he became Raikage!" Chojuro muttered to himself, turning the other way, and walking off towards the inn.
Misuno knew better than to ask what he said.
~
It was evening, which meant the Kage Summit was to be in session in only a few minutes. Chojuro entered the room to see three of the four other Kage sitting at the table, with their retainers. Surprise surprise, Darui and Omoi weren't there yet.
"Oh, Chojuro!" Kurotsuchi said, startled. "I never thought I'd see you at another summit. Are you her retainer?" Choujuro paused, confused. He then remembered she was still wearing his hat.
"Oops." He scratched the back of his neck sheepishly, then took his hat off Misuno's head. "I forgot I never got that back..." Misuno rolled her eyes, and snickered.
"...And that's even more surprising." Kurotsuchi said, raising her eyebrows. "You're the Mizukage. Hm."
Gaara said nothing, but his brother waved at him, grinning. Naruto was grinning too. "What a way to reunite!" He joked.
Chojuro nodded, his eyes narrowing bitterly, but he strained to keep smiling. "And guess who's the Raikage..." He muttered through grit teeth.
Right on cue, Darui and Omoi entered the room. "Well, this is unexpected, to say the least." Darui said. "Hey, Kurotsuchi, Naruto, Gaara. And hel-lo, Chojuro." He shot finger guns at him. Chojuro groaned, and face-palmed.
"This is going to be a long meeting." He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"This brings me back to the Kage Summit in the land of Iron." Akatsuchi smiled. Darui grinned at Chojuro, and Chojuro sighed again.
"Yes... it certainly does..." He growled.
Naruto and Kurotsuchi exchanged a look. Misuno cocked an eyebrow at Darui. Kankuro looked between Chojuro and Darui, and broke the uncomfortable silence. "Y'know, I'm kinda getting the vibe that you like, hate him or something." He said, indicating Darui.
"What, me? Hate him?...You're right." Chojuro replied bitterly.
"Oh no." Shikamaru sighed. "I have a bad feeling about this meeting."
"Hey, guys!" Naruto smiled, putting an arm around Chojuro and Darui's shoulders. "We're here to learn to get along, and keep the peace. We'll work something out. Like sitting you away from each other."
Darui rolled his eyes. "He's just being dramatic."
"And you're too close." Chojuro hissed, shouldering off Naruto's arm, and stepping away from Darui.
"We're supposed to be getting along, y'know." Darui shrugged. Chojuro glared at him.
"Indeed, you're right. I would appreciate it, though, if you would not act so sleazy." He shot back.
"Sleazy? Me? Never!" Darui fake gasped.
"Well then!" Naruto said finally. "Come on, let's all have a seat."
Everyone sat down, Chojuro deliberately sitting as far away from Darui as he could. But he'd cooled down, and was now his normal self.
"I take it we Kage all know one another, but maybe the, uh, retainers are new?" Naruto tried.
"My name is Misuno. There isn't really much else to tell you about myself..." Misuno introduced.
"I am Omoi. It's an honor to be here." Omoi said. He also overthinks things, as proved earlier. Chojuro noted mentally.
"The name's Kankuro. I'm the Kazekage's brother."
"Akatsuchi is my name. It's nice to meet you all." The clear pacifist smiled.
"Shikamaru Nara." The black-haired shinobi said simply, offering no further introduction.
Naruto sighed, and gave him a look. "Well, things certainly have changed since the last time we met. Kurostuchi, I think your hair is longer."
"Just a bit. I kept it short though." She shrugged.
"But not just us. The world has changed!" Naruto smiled. "And that brings us to the point of this meeting. How are we going to progress further in partnership?"
"I'd say we seem to be doing pretty well so far." Chojuro offered. "After the Fourth Shinobi World War, we've gotten along much better than we had before. I guess when we all have a common enemy, we unite. And now things are much more peaceful than before."
"Not only us, but the entire continent has seemed much more friendly towards each other." Kurotsuchi agreed. "On my way here, actually, I was passing through a village, and we saw the entire village pitching in to help this poor homeless elder. They'd but together a surprise charity type thing, and everyone built a home, just for him. Now he's prospering as well as they are."
"We stopped to help out too." Akatsuchi added.
"We only helped them by carrying the heavy items into the house. We didn't do much." Kurotsuchi pointed out.
"That was still very supporting of you." Naruto said.
"We're pretty at peace already." Darui shrugged. "I don't think there's much else to do."
"Unless another force of strong and misguided people come to try and destroy us again, I don't think we should do." Gaara said. "After all, we shouldn't try to force more than we need in out relationship."
"'Misguided'?" Kurotsuchi echoed. "I'm pretty sure they were just evil."
"Kurotsuchi..." Naruto warned.
"I believe otherwise." Gaara said, narrowing his eyes slightly. "I once would've gladly destroyed the world myself, but was brought to light. I can never fully make up for what I did, but I work hard, and that's all I can do."
"Oh. Right. Sorry." Kurotsuchi apologized.
"Well, back to the task at hand..." Naruto said, changing the subject.
"You know, there's more than one way to unite our villages. We just need to think outside the box." Darui pointed out, staring straight at Chojuro. Chojuro rolled his eyes, but made no comment.
"Like what?" Kurotsuchi asked.
"Well, hypothetically, if one Kage were to... I don't know... marry another Kage, then-"
"Yes, but that is not happening." Chojuro interrupted. Darui grinned at him. "I'm pretty sure all of us have someone else that we love."
Gaara nodded. "He's not far off, though." Everyone looked at him. "For instance, I'm married to a shinobi of Konoha."
"Wait, what?" Kankuro said, looking at him. Naruto burst out laughing.
"You never told him?" Naruto exclaimed, then turned to Kankuro. "You remember Lee, right?"
Kankuro looked down at Gaara. "WHAT!? You married him? And I never heard about it?"
"Yes, that's what I said." Gaara nodded, trying not to crack a smile. "You're not going to think differently of me, are you?"
"No, but, just- Rock Lee, of all people to win you favor, you chose him." Kankuro said. "Does Temari know?"
"Yes."
"So then why didn't I?"
"Oh, you were off on a long mission across the continent when we were married, and I just guess I forgot to mention it to you." Gaara shrugged, neutral-faced.
"What the fuck Gaara!" Kankuro exclaimed.
"See? I had a point." Darui said smugly. Chojuro glared at him. "I don't believe you're married, now, are you?"
Chojuro's face flushed red. "N-no, but what does that have to do with anything!?"
"Oh, nothing." Darui grinned. "Just wondering."
"I'd expect you aren't either, with your daily attitude." Chojuro shot at him.
"As a matter of fact, I'm not." Darui shrugged. "But I do have eyes for someone." He said that as he stared directly into Chojuro's eyes.
Chojuro flinched, and stood. "I would expect we have nothing further to discuss, so I really must be going." He said, then turned to leave.
"Wait, but-"
"I have, um, important work I have to get done." Chojuro insisted, cutting Naruto off. "It was nice seeing you again." He picked his hat up off the table, and walked out of the room, Misuno quickly following. Darui grinned.
"I knew it."
The other Kage looked at him. "You knew what?" Kurotsuchi asked.
"He does still love me." Everyone then looked at him in surprise.
"What about any of your previous conversations made you believe that?" Omoi asked.
"No, he's definitely right." Shikamaru sighed. "Trust me, I should know. I've been in Chojuro's shoes before."
"What, with Temari?" Kankuro asked.
"No." Shikamaru shrugged, then paused. "Don't look into that too much."
~
Chojuro had already stopped by the inn to tell the clerk that they wouldn't be staying the night, and was on his way out of the village.
"Leaving so soon?" Chojuro cringed at the voice. Darui was walking towards him. "What's the hurry?"
"Oh, shut it." He scowled. Darui's expression became serious.
"Look, I know I seem like a scumbag-"
"You are a scumbag." Chojuro corrected. "I don't know how you became Raikage. You've no sense of dignity or respect."
"But I do try to understand." Darui pointed out. "I worked hard to get where I am, and I know you have too. I know, you must've worked twice as hard as everyone else because people underestimated you. I'll be honest, I did too, at first."
Chojuro sighed. "I thought as much."
"However," Darui continued. "you've worked a lot harder than I ever did, and I have to respect that. You've worked hard to be strong, but you've always been stronger than me, ever since we met that day so long ago." Chojuro made a 'tch' sound. "You have a bigger heart than most people do. You're strong in the way that it really counts; empathy."
"Yes, and just that got me nowhere." Chojuro muttered bitterly. "Just because I had a higher amount of empathy than the average person, didn't make people like or respect me. They seemed to hate me for it."
"I did." Darui said. "I respected and liked you. And, well, you made me fall in love with you with only a few words. And I didn't even realize it." Both Misuno and Omoi looked at the Raikage.
"There's no such thing as love at first sight." Chojuro said.
"There is. It's standing right in front of me." Darui smiled. Chojuro's face went red.
"Just what nonsense are you spouting?"
"Oh come on, Chojuro!" Darui frowned. "I poured my heart out to you! I'm being serious!"
"But it's so out of character." Chojuro sighed. Darui walked up to Chojuro and took his hands in his. "Well this seems familiar."
"Look, I know you don't think it'd work, but give me a chance." Darui said.
"Well..." Chojuro said, pretending to think about it. "No."
"No!?" Darui exclaimed, then sighed. "Alright. I suppose I should've seen is coming-"
Chojuro pulled him into a kiss. Darui relaxed. Omoi and Misuno looked at each other, then at their Kage's in disbelief.
When they parted, Darui blinked at him. "Wait, so was that supposed to convince me that your answer is still no?"
"No, I just wanted to see if you would accept it, or push. You accepted it, so you proved that it could work after all."
"I'm confused."
"Good." Without another word, Chojuro turned, and walked out of the village, Misuno running to catch up.
Darui watched him go, and grinned. "See? I was right. He does love me."