Ren not-very-subtly looked around with a slight sense of exasperation filling his chest as he and several other very important Konoha dignitaries were standing in the fairly large area near Konoha's gate, waiting for the Sunagakure delegation to arrive.
He inwardly grumbled at how tight and scratchy the ceremonial kimono Hiruzen insisted he wear was. But he didn't want to go through the whole song and dance of complaining and getting lectured again.
Not after the last five lectures Hiruzen had already given him, telling him how to behave, what to do, what not to do, what to say, what not to say.
Ren inwardly shook his head. It went in one ear and out the other, but at least it confirmed for Ren that the fussy old man truly did care about these peace talks going well. He wasn't doing this to just screw Ren over.
As consolation prices go, that one felt quite shitty, but it was still better than nothing.
Ren's lips quirked in amusement when he noticed Hiruzen was looking around just as much as he did, only with a more worried energy. He slightly leaned toward the old man, who decided to 'babysit' him through the event, and because of that, stayed close to him.
"Anything bothering you?" Ren curiously asked.
"Yes." Hiruzen distractedly nodded with a small frown, his eyes sweeping another part of the crowd. "I am looking for Elder Danzo. He should have been here already."
Hearing that, Ren inwardly snorted. Yeah, that might be a small problem. Hiruzen was going to be disappointed with his no-show friend today. Ren somewhat doubted the old warhawk could make the appointment.
"That's the dude with bangades, right?" Outwardly, Ren asked in disinterest as he fiddled with his clothes, tugging at them where they felt uncomfortable.
"Yes." Hiruzen irritably said, admonishingly glancing at Ren, "And don't be rude to Konoha's Elders."
"Eh. In a few weeks, he is not going to be my Elder anymore." But Ren only shrugged and exaggeratedly rolled his eyes at the old man. His words earned him a scowling and warning look from Hiruzen, but Ren just nonchalantly turned his head away from Hiruzen in a clear signal that he had lost his interest in the topic.
Ren could lie, but he wasn't as good at it as Hiruzen, so the best way to keep up the facade was to simply disengage from the whole conversation and not stir any suspicions.
Frankly, Danzo's usual behavior helped him here. Danzo was known to skip important meetings and events in the village quite often due to his 'crippled condition' and a plethora of other excuses. He only ever attended if something could prove beneficial to him and his plans.
Granted, skipping this one was a big deal tantamount to a small political suicide, so it was still suspicious, but that little doubt due to his previous behavior was enough to stop others from having nefarious suspicions.
His not showing up was kind of a routine by now, even if it could be perceived as a slight and a sign of disrespect from Konoha's side. Then again, Danzo was never a shining example of respect for other villages, was he?
As Ren's gaze wandered through the crowd, his eyes met Tsunade's, and he couldn't help the small mirthful smirk that appeared on his face as he remembered how Hiruzen had tried to tell her how to properly act as the new Hokage a few dozen minutes ago.
She scowled at him and loudly told him in front of all the Konoha dignitaries, "I will aim my scowl at whomever I want and they will just have to suck it up. There will be all the time in the world to be pleasant once the Suna bastards arrive."
And with that, Tsunade marched to the front of the deathly silent crowd with an indignant gait, leaving the poor Advisor Sarutobi flabbergasted, gaping like a fish.
The Fifth Hokage was certainly not in a good mood today. Something told Ren that she really did not like giving one of Konoha's S-rank ninjas away to Suna basically for free, but unfortunately for both him and Tsunade, she was a new Kage and didn't yet have as much hold on the political parties within the village. Her hands were tied.
Oh, and Ren pissed her off in their last meeting, too. But surely she would be the bigger person and not act on a childish impul-... heh. Yeah. Ren couldn't finish that thought with a straight face.
The unhappy woman stood near the front of the small crowd, with Shizune to her right side, fussing over Tsunade's pig tails. She wore her own ceremonial clothes and the oversized Hokage hat with the same amount of enthusiasm as Ren, the fabrics stretching over her big chest.
Probably noticing where Ren's eyes dipped, Tsunade's honey-colored eyes narrowed at him, and Ren gave her a sheepish, apologetic smile, causing her to silently huff at him before she looked back toward Shizune, a scowl reemerging on her lips as they started to quietly whisper about something.
Ren chuckled. Despite his misgivings about the grumpy old woman, he could imagine himself working with her to make Konoha great again. It was quite a pity how things ended.
Letting Hiruzen live after the confrontation with Orochimaru might have been a mistake. The man simply had too much influence after his decades of ruling, and Ren had realized it far too late. But the juice was already spilled, and trying to force it back to the glass would be pointless.
Many other people were in attendance. The village Elders, the most important merchants and councilmen, and also the clan heads of the biggest clans, alongside their heirs, represented their side of the political spectrum of the village.
On Ren's right side, far in the back, Ren noticed Ino and exchanged a wink with her. This was the very first time he had seen her wearing an actual ceremonial kimono, and she looked amazing with her hair falling freely over her shoulders, bold red lipstick, and small, tasteful traces of make-up here and there that only enhanced her natural beauty.
Ren's eyes subtly, yet shamelessly, wandered a bit over her form in a small wonder, making her visibly preen under his gaze with a massive, proud smirk. At least, until Inoichi put his hand on Ino's shoulder, attracting Ren's attention for a moment. As their eyes met, the man gave him a constipated, scolding look.
Ren snickered but gave the blond-haired man a polite nod, showing that he understood his plea. Still, he unrepentantly shrugged for everybody else to see.
Eyeing another girl while waiting for Temari might probably show a bad image to the other busybodies who were watching them like hawks. Especially for the Suna ambassadors and negotiators who stayed in Konoha for the past few days and were waiting among the crowd. But it wasn't as if somebody here wasn't aware of his relationship with Ino and Hinata.
Ren wasn't willing to treat them as if they were some shameful mistresses that had to stay hidden. The people who didn't like it will simply have to suck it up.
Speaking of Hinata... she was here, too, with her father. But her back was turned toward Ren, so he sadly couldn't exchange blatantly flirtatious looks with her. But he could still feel her gaze on him the entire time. He had gotten quite good at sensing that particular sensation over the years.
Hiruzen suddenly nudged him, and Ren turned toward the old man, only to see him motioning toward the gate. Ren tensed as he looked over and inwardly sighed when he noticed that the Sunagakure's delegation came into view.
Getting slightly nervous, the following several minutes passed in a frenzy as Hiruzen led him to the front of the welcoming crowd. The various important people started their meet and greet ceremonial bullshit first with Tsunade, who had seemed to do a complete one-eighty in her attitude on the spot, and was now pleasantly smiling while shaking their hands as if it was a second nature of hers.
Ren's jaw almost dropped seeing that. Then, unfortunately, they came toward Hiruzen and Ren, and it was their turn to do the meet and greet.
Things went well... until it was Temari's turn.
She stepped in front of Ren after exchanging polite pleasantries with the Hokage and Hiruzen, and both of them stopped just barely within an arm's reach from each other, eyeing the other with veiled, perplexed wariness.
Temari had her hair down, much like Ino, except her shade of blonde was much lighter, almost sandy yellow. It was actually supposed to be in a bun, from what Ren knew, but memories of one Suna guy asking him about his preferences a few days ago flashed through his mind, and he felt a bit embarrassed when he realized it was not just an innocent question.
She wore what Ren thought was probably a traditional Sunagakure kimono, black and decorated with depictions of golden sands near the hems, pointing out her clan and her station in Suna.
At least, that's what Ren remembered from Hiruzen's earlier rambling. His traditional clothes had... well, trees on them. Shocking, right?
Unfortunately, his request to have foxes on it was instantly shot down, with many people secretly furious with him, and having them leave that particular meeting fuming in a very bad mood.
Ren's eyes trailed over Temari's form just as her did over his, and he couldn't help but focus on her bare neck, her almost half-bare shoulders and collar bones, which led to a generous cleavage by design.
She was simply gorgeous.
But here, Ren didn't allow his eyes to wander too far down. After all, everybody was watching them.
He gulped. Worse, Temari noticed. And her black-painted lips twisted into an amused, knowing half-smirk.
Before Ren could open his mouth and say his lines, the girl took a half-step forward. "It just had to be you, huh? You dick-loving bastard." She wryly whispered with a rueful expression, quietly enough that mostly only the people near them could hear her words.
And as Ren was left wanting for words, the Inuzuka matriarch in the back of the crowd barked out a laugh alongside her daughter, Hana.
For a moment, Ren had no idea how to respond, but then he noticed a sort of hard-to-describe, vicious mirth in Temari's gaze. She did this on purpose, and her rueful expression was both real and not at all that serious.
She had done it to piss people off. To piss him off.
And the only person around them who noticed was the grinning Tsunade because both Baki, who was babysitting Temari, and Hiruzen, who was babysitting Ren, were too busy reeling in shock at the blatant disrespect.
Ren decided to play along.
"It just had to be you, eh? You pauper princess." Ren's lips melted into a pleasant, innocent smile.
Both Temari's and Tsunade's eyes widened slightly, and Temari twitched enough to tell Ren that his remark landed splendidly as her challenging smirk turned somewhat brittle.
All the while, Baki and Hiruzen looked almost faint at how everything was going to hell, and the Inuzuka matriarch was now guffawing with her daughter, with the people around them looking at them with irritation.
A tense moment passed between Ren and Temari, but then it instantly disappeared almost as soon as it came, and Ren took a step closer to the girl as they clasped each other's forearms. Ren had never done this with anybody else before, but apparently, this passed as a traditional greeting here.
Why? Well, it was to check if the other party had hidden blades under the clothes on their forearm. Not having them was simply a common courtesy among allied ninja. Especially during diplomatic meetings.
Ren's smile twitched as he realized that Temari was indeed hiding several under her sleeves.
'This disrespectful little fox.' He thought in exasperation as the sandy-haired girl dared him to say something with her smugly polite expression and a barely raised eyebrow.
He chuckled at her and gave her a nod as he inwardly shook his head, deciding to simply proceed according to the plan and stop Baki and Hiruzen from panicking.
He gave Temari a genuinely friendly smile.
"Welcome to Konoha."