Chapter 6

Welcome To Konoha

My carriage entered the gates of Konoha without being halted or stalled. I was in my ceremonial clothes now, my thoughts apathetic.

I was just hot. It was almost as hot in Hi no Kuni as it was in Akarui no Kuni. It wasn't called the Land Of Light for nothing. It was hot; tropical hot.

Konoha was only a little better.

People had assembled alongside the streets, watching as my little parade went by.

We came to a stop in front of a large red tower with the symbol for fire etched on the side. It was much more obvious than the building we had in Koosen, but it held the same purpose.

It was the building where all the government officials usually haunted.

'I hate politics.' I decided, frowning under my veil as Shuichi gestured for me to get ready. Get ready for what? Meeting the Hokage, of course! Perhaps if it had been the Yondaime I would have been a little more excited but it was not, it was the Sandaime.

Shuichi exited the carriage and I waited for him to walk around to my side. I took his hand and allowed him to guide me to where the elderly man awaited me. He was wearing ceremonial Kage Robes, had tanned skin and kind eyes. I have to say he seemed like a nice enough man. In reality he was in a higher position politically than I was so most etiquette was out the window when it came to him.

This fact pleased me.

When I met him I ignored the awed bystanders and extended my hand, making sure to only speak in a whisper. Shuichi would have a fit and fall in it, if he thought anyone but the Hokage could hear my voice. Such a stupid rule.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Hokage-sama. I am Izo Takano, Hime no Akarui. Thank you for allowing my stay within your beautiful village." I felt stupid. I hadn't even had a chance to see his 'beautiful village' because of this stupid monkey-suit and this stupid parade. I stopped my thoughts realizing how irritable I was already becoming. I needed to calm down and think positively.

Yes, positive.

What were the positives? I wondered.

I glanced at Shuichi and was reminded of something. Yes, the positive was that once all this paraphernalia and show-and-tell was over with I was free to dress normally, speak normally and act normally unless presented with a formal occasion. I hoped the Uchiha would pity me and not give me too many formal affairs to attend.

"It is wonderful to see you here also, Izo-hime. I wish to offer blessings to your future marriage." He said and I smiled. My initial thoughts were true. He was kind. But his understanding seemed to be that I wanted this marriage. That was far from correct.

Nonetheless, I smiled politely and whispered a 'thank-you', before retracting my arm. Shuichi rushed forward to finish with the pleasantries and I began to subtly look around. My attention was recapture when I heard the old man give an 'oh!' and saw him approach me once more.

"I almost forgot," He said with a smile. He pulled a box out of his robes. It wasn't an overly large box, but it wasn't quite small enough to be a jewellery box. It seemed about the size someone would put a neatly folded scarf in. It was a simple royal blue color, with pretty silver ribbon. "That's just for you my dear. I hope you can make use of it." I simply nodded, partially dumbfounded. I held the box tightly in my hands and when we finally returned to the carriage I tugged the ribbon in an almost playful manor.

I noticed that Shuichi's hand was extended towards me, almost as if he...expected me to...give him...

"My present." I stated firmly, slapping his hand away. Our recent interaction on the road had given me more confidence when it came to dealing with my representative...at least it gave me more confidence in public. I still knew his threat from before we left was very real and I dreaded facing his wrath in private.

"Izo-hime, might I remind you that your safety is my highest priority. I need to make sure the gift is not dangerous." I scoffed. I know I was still a genin, but I think I could handle a booby-trapped gift box the size of a pie-plate.

As I watched the buildings slide by, I tried to think of what to do with the gift. I couldn't carry it around with me all through introductions; it would be unorthodox. I also couldn't give it to Harumi or the maids because, despite their best intentions, the gift would only end up in Shuichi's hands. That's when a figure slid into my vision and I smiled.

Shisui was walking alongside the carriage, minding his own business. I believed I could trust him, he had been very good to me so far. So, without trying to disturb Shuichi (who had dosed off again), I leaned over to the window.

"Shisui-kun..." I whispered and he looked startled before looking over at me with a smile.

"I thought you weren't supposed to talk to commoners, hime-chan." I let out a hiss to let him know I wasn't joking and he looked serious again. "What would you like?" He asked.

I held up the gift and he looked at me questioningly. Through the veil, I could see the confusion in his eyes. "Shuichi is going to steal the hokage's gift if I leave it unattended. Would you mind taking it to my room and putting it someplace hidden? I know it's not your job but-"

"Hey, don't worry about it!" He said, reaching into the carriage. "My job is to keep you content; and that includes keeping your presents from prying eyes." I gave him the gift, wishing he could see how grateful my face must have looked.

"Thank-you." Was all I could manage to express with just words.

We passed a small group of people who looked related and I noticed something strange about them. The all had either brown or dark hair and had the strangest eyes I had ever seen. They were almost transparent. There seemed to be more and more of them as we went on.

"Those people..." I couldn't quite find the words for my question; at least not words that didn't sound rude. Luckily, the Uchiha boy seemed to understand.

"Those are the Hyuuga. They are our rival clan. Their eyes are courtesy of their clan's dojutsu the 'Byakugan'. We're about to pass the compound, which is why there are so many of them." He seemed very apathetic when describing them so I wondered if there really was a valid reasoning for this 'rivalry' or whether it was all 'just because'.

"You there!" Shuichi said to Shisui, having woke up. "What are you doing?"

"Here to tell you we should be arriving at the compound within the next few minutes, sir." Shisui recovered. He sounded completely truthful and I was impressed by his ability to think on his feet. Shisui disappeared after that.

A few minutes later we traveled through what appeared to be an unguarded, open gate and Shisui reappeared. "The Uchiha Clan compound, sir...milady." I stared around me in awe. Lanterns hung off the buildings, bearing the symbol I had noticed on the vests of the police corp earlier. The uchiwa fan. Streamers of red and white decorated the homes and fences. My personal hime symbol (the dragon) was also demonstrated through paintings and other decorations. The entire clan seemed to have come out of their homes to greet me, lining the streets of the compound and I realized how large the clan was. Their population was that of a small village!

Then, all too soon, the carriage came to a stop. I shuddered. This was it. I was going to meet my future 'in-laws'.