An offer

Gaara looked at Naruto for a little moment, seemingly judging him. His intense stare made Naruto a little uncomfortable, but then Gaara took a breath to explain. "I came together with my sister here. On the way, we picked up a priestess, as it was arranged, sort of acting as her bodyguards. She was... feisty, but she claimed to know you.", Gaara said.

Naruto chuckled. Yup, that sure did sound like Shion. So, she hadn't really changed. That meant she was doing well. Good to know that.

"I came here to negotiate with the Hokage. Nothing major. My sister is with Shion now, still acting as her bodyguard. You heard the Hokage, she's off to some temple. But what I want to discuss with you concerns you most recent order...", Gaara came to the point now.

Naruto gulped. Part of him knew what was coming next.

"Naruto... considering what I owe to you, and what you have done for Sunagakure as a whole, I would not oppose it if you asked for Temaris hand.", he finished, looking at Naruto, awaiting his answer.

For a moment, Naruto was confused as to who Temari was, but then he remembered that she was Gaaras sister, and the one he talked about. She was about a year older than they were, a somewhat tomboyish kunoichi from the sand. Used a big fan and four sand-blonde ponytails. "Temari? Ah, your sister. But... isn't she... you know... with Shikamaru?", Naruto asked. There had been some mixed signals from them... in fact, they reminded him of Sakura and himself, and as it had turned out, Sakura was happy with her marriage... so, wouldn't that mean Temari was with Shikamaru?

"Shikamaru? No, she considers him a friend, but she told me that he would be 'too troublesome' as a boyfriend.", Gaara explained boredly. "I would really like to welcome you into the family, Naruto. You know that you're like a brother to me.", he urged him.

In fact, Naruto did know that Gaara thought of him highly, and so did he. He thought that Gaara was his best friend, but marrying your sister to him, it just seemed a little over the top for Naruto."Well... I suppose I can ask her once she returns...", Naruto said, not sure what he should think of all this.

But that was seemingly not enough for Gaara. "I INSIST that you ask her, Naruto.", Gaara said, and although it sounded casually, Naruto could feel his inner demon breaking out once more when he insisted. Man, he really wanted this, huh?

"A-Alright!", he responded with a stutter. Naruto was cowed by Gaaras insistance, but still... he would not **** Temari to anything she didn't want. Heck, he didn't even know if Gaara had even talked to her about this... seeing as this was only decided yesterday.

Gaara though seemed to be satisfied with the answer and nodded. "Good. I have to continue my meeting with the Hokage now, Naruto. I will see you later.", he said as he patted his friend on the shoulder.

Naruto was left out in the hallway. Deciding it was best to wait for the two girls, he walked outside the tower and stood under the gate of the tower, leaning against a wall. He looked up to the sky... it was about noon now. Maybe he should get lunch soon? That way, he could also easily see Ayame again before they would all meet this evening... thinking about it, Tsunade must've ordered a pretty large table... oh well, that would be something to worry about when the time came, he decided. For now, he simply waited for Shion and Temari to return to the tower.