June 1st, in the very, very early AM hours (circa 2-3am)
Thus far, Gaara has proven himself loyal. Or, as loyal as one could prove themselves to be within a matter of a few days. My trust takes considerably longer to earn than that. In this world, if you trust too freely, you will be betrayed, without fail. I cannot say that I trust any one person one hundred percent.
Kabuto has earned a lot of my trust, but I am not so naive as to ignore the fact that he has his own agenda. After all, I trained him. I would be disappointed if he did not. I couldn't regard him with the fondness that I do if I thought him incapable of doing me harm. I have never had time for weaklings, even when I was young and naive.
For the time being, however, both Gaara and Kabuto have shown a satisfactory level of loyalty proportionate to the level of responsibility I have given each of them. I doubt very much that they will get along well, but this isn't really something that concerns me. So long as they can work together towards a common goal, I really don't care if they establish anything resembling friendship. It's an overrated human interaction anyhow.
The plan went well, with all the players following their roles. The one surprise was the distress signal - I had to adjust the plan so that we left the Hyuuga child in Konoha. With the curse seal inflicted, of course. I wonder what Tsunade-hime and the old fool Jiraiya will do when they find out what's happened.
In the meantime, celebrations and plans for the future are in order.