A/N: I realised I had mislabelled the Uchiha in the Nine-Tails encounter as the clan head. He is in fact the leader of the Uchiha in that encounter…. Not quite the same thing. I went back and fixed it.
;
The Kaki clan residence sat upon a mountain so as to be bevelled from its face. The dormant volcano gently sloped from foot to peak by thirty degrees, allowing a multitude of trees and deciduous woody vines to flourish from its rich soil and irrigated terraces. The vegetation spilled over the residence's stone walls and arches, so that outside the main residence's walls was always a green carpet of life.
Through every season, one of each kind of plant flowered, clothing the Kaki homeland in fragrance and colour. Junipers, cedar trees, ebony trees, oaks, willows, loquats, and the iconic persimmon trees were among the count, as well as grapevines, honeysuckles, and wildflowers. Built upon the works of Oichi's distant grandfathers, the Kaki clan residence captured natural beauty and function with no manner of security against invaders: a perfect reflection of the originally small nation.
Oichi rode through the green arches of her homeland now, hastily navigating shattered stone and splintered trees with her spooked horse for the mountain's peak. Musashi and his men ran alongside her with narrowed gazes searching for the source of the dust storm that had consumed the mountain.
They had not found spilled blood on their path from the Kaki border to its heart, but they had followed the craters of careless destruction the Nine-Tailed Fox had left in his sprinting. The citizens they had encountered on their way had shakily revealed themselves from where the Fuuma had quickly directed an evacuation, but none could describe the nature of the calamity they had narrowly dodged. Only that the fox had been cackling as he had passed.
The shibi tiles of the main castle came into view as a floating silhouette in the dust, orienting the castle within the thickest of the floating debris. Oichi's nerves found movement in every wave of particles.
She wiped sweat from her eyes. "Oharu!" she cried out.
White noise filled the atmosphere, like countless rustling leaves or gossiping whispers.
"Kurama!" Oichi called out, searching. "Oharu!"
A woman's voice echoed from ahead and above. Musashi and his men all froze.
After a beat, a distant giggle followed.
Oichi hurried her horse. "Oharu! Okiku! Oyuki! O…"
Oichi broke through the dust to come upon a sight that stole her breath away.
Oharu giggled again and leaned against the balusters of the top balcony. Her palms cradled her chin as she beamed ahead to Kurama. The tailed beast was lounging in the middle of a crushed orchard, front paws crossed over each other and nine tails draped back over tiled roofs like rolling hills of fur. His long snout was pointed at the main castle, a chilling grin accompanying the evident dialogue between princess and tailed beast.
Oichi kicked her horse up the castle road. "Oharu, Kurama!"
Her cries didn't register until she drew near enough to behold every hair on Kurama's hide.
"Elder Sister!" Oharu cheered from above, elegantly dipping her head. "You have come as well? Your friend was just introducing himself to me!"
Kurama looked down at Oichi. "We're playing a game."
Oharu sang an affirmative. "Every time I guess his name wrong, he must guess mine! So far, he is not a Chiyonosuke or Misaki."
"And she is not 'human' or 'mortal,'" Kurama shared.
"But you've spoiled our game now," Oharu teased Oichi. "He knows I'm Oharu, and I know him to be Kurama!" She turned to the fox. "A handsome name for a handsome creature."
Kurama's chest rumbled with amusement. "You have eyes, mortal Oharu."
"Alright!" Oichi cut off. "Is your curiosity sated, Kurama?"
The tailed beast lowered his head to pin Oichi under a crimson stare. "Only time can answer that, Kaki Oichi. I shall watch you and your kind for what my father sees in you."
How long was long enough!?
Oichi sighed deeply. She felt as if she had aged a decade in one day, and her shoulder still had part of a tree in it.
"Well," Oichi reasoned, "if you are to live in my land, I have only one requirement."
Kurama sneered warningly. "Oh?"
Oichi hesitantly nodded. "F-Follow the law, dig into soil and trade, yadda yadda…."
She trailed off at Kurama's sudden bark of laughter.
He growled. "I am bound by no human law, and shall watch as I please."
After a cycle of steady breathing, Oichi decidedly lifted her good hand to signal her forces to stand down. The Fuuma and Musashi people around her and Kurama hesitantly obeyed, bewildered by the unexpected conclusion to their monstrously-sized issue. Countless troubles were answered and created by Kurama's sudden declaration, and Oichi had to address all of it.
She could, however, decide where to start.
Oichi gestured to the wooden wreck beneath Kurama. "Would you mind at least watching away from the orchards?"
The Kaki homeland had attracted a new, fickle guardian. Merchants who frequented Kaki trade routes murmured of moving hills and cackling wind. Those wealthy enough to trade directly with the Kaki clan residence recounted a horribly massive and beautiful nine-tailed fox under the spell of the eldest Kaki princess. The beast whimsically prowled the homeland's hills only to frequent the clan residence the most to play riddles with Lady Oharu and her five younger sisters.
The Inui clan and their residents moved from the wetlands to the edges of the Kaki clan compound in response, bolstering the area's security ostensibly against invaders. The clan head, Inui Toyoharu, would reluctantly admit that the relocation was for token security against the tailed beast, so moved were he and his people by Lord Kaki's willingness to die for them. Only the elderly among his family and their servants remained in the original Inui residence to continue governing their ancestral land.
Meanwhile, the daimyo of the Great Continent were bursting with shock. Messengers wore down highways in a sudden rush of correspondence between landlords and their daimyo, and daimyo with other daimyo. No one could have predicted that the formerly insignificant Kaki nation would acquire a tailed beast without bloodshed, and so mellow in behaviour was the great fox at that. Tailed beasts had no second thoughts about killing humans, and Lord Kaki should have had no remorse attacking a calamity until it left her territory. Yet, the young lord had tamed it?
Oichi was largely ignorant of her country's developing reputation. She finally had a moment to breathe and give her responsibilities in the Hino, Tanaka, and Kaki lands her full attention. Her skeleton crew of government officials and soldiers across the nation were already settling in and solidifying Kaki's new borders, but what Oichi needed was a well-oiled machine. Recent events had only demonstrated this, along with the pressure of the unknown future. It didn't help that Oichi also had to rearrange governing structures in her homeland to accommodate for its new unpredictable resident.
Oichi simply didn't have enough men. Her country had fought a war just days ago, and her army's recent encounter with Kurama hadn't gained them new allies or resources to help.
It had, however, opened one door.
Oichi fixed her arm in its sling as she settled on her dais. Sanjuro sat to her right, and in front of the dais sat Lord Makoto, Lord Nishihara, and their two aides. Oichi recognised the Senju retainer whom Lord Nishihara favoured, while the present Uchiha resembled the one who had commanded the Makoto border in the face of a tailed beast.
Lord Makoto and Nishihara sat stiffly in reprimand.
Oichi stared down at them. "I do not ask for you two to forget your grievances, but this war must plainly be put on hold."
Makoto found his voice first. "Until when?" he tested.
Oichi thundered, "Until your neighbours can stand in your vicinities with confidence. I cannot be the only voice against your unchecked conflict."
Nishihara slipped his hands into his sleeves. "Merely the only one with a tailed beast at her call."
"I do not command Kurama," Oichi immediately corrected.
Makoto scoffed. "Great, she has gone and named it as well."
"You both are not leaving here without a resolution," Oichi stated flatly. "I had to personally experience two of your retainers quarrelling above me while I was bleeding to death under a horse."
Makoto and Nishihara sharply glanced aside at their retainers, who inclined their heads in reluctant confirmation.
Oichi caught the exchange. "What is your name?"
The Senju blinked. No one asked for a shinobi's name. He looked to Nishihara for direction, and the daimyo nodded.
The retainer bowed. "I am Senju Hashirama."
Oichi moved her gaze. "And you?"
The Uchiha bowed. "Uchiha Madara."
A shocked snort tickled Oichi's throat. "Hm. The retainers I met on the battlefield must have been your younger siblings then."
"I apologise for Izuna's behaviour," Madara responded.
Hashirama bowed deeper. "I'm sure Tobirama started it."
Oichi waved her good hand, and the retainers straightened. "Your retainers have more sense than you — Makoto-dono, Nishihara-dono." She let them sit in silent suspense for a moment before she straightened up in authority. "One month from now, we will meet here again. We will feast together peacefully. And we will share how our countries are prospering whilethey are not at war."
Makoto might as well have been carved from stone. However, despite what his demeanour implied, it was impossible for him to not have a sense of when to observe and when to act as the ancestral enemy of the Nishihara. Oichi also couldn't forget that the old dragon had been honest about his debt with her.
Makoto eventually cracked first with a deep sigh. He fished a scroll out of his robes and rolled it open before him. A bite at his thumb drew blood, and the daimyo signed his name on the blank paper. He passed it to Nishihara, who mirrored his actions.
Oichi accepted the scroll and signed her own name. A flare of chakra filled the scroll with their promise to peacefully meet again in thirty days, written in Oichi's flowing calligraphy. It was the one jutsu Oichi had made sure to master.
She looked ahead at the two daimyo and their aides, and the future that lied beyond them. "One month," she swore.
One month could equate to a lot of work.
Ever since Kaki's claim to Hino land, Kaki's governing agents and soldiers had rushed to adjust to a greater explosion of territory than the previous absorption of Tanaka land. Nishihara's abrupt recollection of his assisting forces due to a tailed beast had essentially pulled the rug out from under Kaki. Oichi and her army were still straining to compensate. Furthermore, at the same time Oichi had organised a vital sit-down between Lord Makoto and Nishihara, a sudden influx of people had begun settling in the western region of her country. The Kaki capital was facing a risk of population overflow.
At first Oichi had suspected the arrival of opportunist merchants in response to Kaki's looser tax regulations. However, she received clarity from a meeting with the leader of Kaki's largest merchant guild. The country southwest of Kaki's border had contracted frequent flooding. Buildings were suffering from constant water damage, and the runoff in roads was so deep as to make it impossible for a horse-drawn wagon to navigate. People were tying all they owned to their backs or the top of their heads and migrating to neighbouring countries on foot.
Merchants and refugees lamented the nation's luck. The nation of Negi notably prospered as the fastest-growing industrial country of the Greater Continent, even though it was merely twice the size of the Kaki homeland. However, as if in denial of such prosperity, ill weather frequented Negi. The country had in the past managed to stay afloat of its issues through new regulations and inventions, but the bubble had now finally burst. No enforced protocol would be able to rescue the country's infrastructure from flooding fast enough.
The sudden population spike near Kaki's capital stressed Oichi out. She welcomed skilled hands and industrial minds to her country, but she needed trustworthy civil servants. Until the next national civil service exam, she wasn't going to get any anytime soon.
Which was why Oichi grabbed all the maps she could find.
Half of her retainers were starting to wonder if she had gone crazy from overwork.
"Your Grace, this is…."
"A balloon," Oichi shared at the same time Minamoto proposed, "A lantern?"
Everyone in Oichi's council room blinked at each other.
Oichi bent down and plucked stray scrolls off the floor to avoid an accident. She had reduced the indoor space to a wastebin of ink, paper, and damaged brushes. The fruit of her efforts sat among open maps on her dais, unscrolled to display the full wealth of their knowledge.
"A durable lantern," Oichi allowed, straightening up with an armful of trash. Her retainers hurriedly summoned a servant to dispose of the paper before their lord could lower herself to a mundane task, especially with her left arm still in a sling. Oichi continued without pause. "I can't stare at geographical maps all day without also contemplating the skies. Minamin, send contracts out to our merchant guilds; offer a scholar's wage to anyone who can construct these balloons and observe wind patterns with them. I specifically want atmospheric changes in the Negi border mapped."
The old Kaki retainer bowed and received the pilot balloon blueprint.
As he disappeared, Sanjuro scratched his head. "Your Grace, who will take over Minamoto-dono's task to address the population flux?"
"No need," Oichi corrected. Castle servants quickly cleared the room of rubbish and relieved Oichi of the pile she was carrying before she could add to it. "Negi's greatest issue is constant rain, which is why these balloons and I will help Lord Negi address it."
Sanjuro choked. "You can't fight rain, my lord!"
The servants and retainers' faces displayed their bald bewilderment: first a tailed beast, and now the weather!?
Oichi immediately banished the assumption. "I'm not going to fight anything!" she blushed. "I have corrections to Negi's infrastructure I'd like to propose, but I want to verify that I'm working with facts, first. You're dismissed."
The gaping servants timidly bowed before scurrying off with fresh gossip.
Oichi felt a headache forming.
Fortunately, the merchant guilds were responsive. Former Negi civilians grasped Oichi's designs quickly, incentivised by a civil servant's pay and their own natural curiosity to release "balloons" near their homeland. They even corrected the blueprints and tested them against higher altitudes than intended, before finally turning in results that confirmed Negi's circumstances.
Negi was south of a mountain range, and northwest of a gulf.
More specifically, a mountain range and kilometres of elevated land separated Negi from the northern arctic sea. However, arctic winds still traveled as far as south of the mountains, where they met the gulf's warm air. The pilot balloons had not only drifted along the stream's path where dry and humid air met, but also where air that was heated by the sun's rays rose and traveled northward to fall in the northern pole. It was probably the worst feedback loop of all feedback loops. Combined with noted trade winds in the same latitude, Negi most assuredly sat under a permanent jet stream.
Even in the rare season where it wouldn't rain over Negi, precipitation would naturally move north to the mountains, recharging groundwater that would flow downhill for Negi. The industrial country could easily be accused of clearing out more trees than was wise, but it must have also covered up a river over the course of its urban development, directing the water underground only to be forgotten and neglected. Multiply this event by the dozens of streams and rivers that ran from the northern mountains to the Hanguri Gulf in the south, and Negi was just a lake waiting to form after one massive rainfall.
Or five, according to current events.
Oichi acted to present as much to Lord Negi, pressing the importance of daylighting known rivers and utilising flood barriers to control their strength. The solution wouldn't address Negi's immediate concerns, but it would ensure Negi's safety and prosperity in the long run. Unfortunately, Lord Negi rejected all correspondence from her. Oichi received much of the same from lords over nations who regularly purchased Negi goods, as they refused to play messenger.
That was when Oichi's retainers pointed out rumours she had been ignoring in favour of higher priorities, like running her country. After meeting her, Lord Tanaka had died in the midst of a meal, and Lord Hino had nearly died on his own dais. A few lords were whispering that Oichi was a curse on other houses. Even if one dismissed Kurama's presence in Kaki as happenstance, Oichi's track record as a daimyo attracted wariness from those who shared her position.
After her best efforts to help, Oichi could just let Negi…drown.
But that was if she stuck to the nice guy's path. If other daimyo suspected her of being a bloodthirsty conqueror, then even a negative reputation could serve as a tool. Oichi sent another missive to Lord Negi, and this time received a response.
Oichi's message was simple:
The greedy Lord Kaki desired the discount to Negi products that all of Negi's client countries had, combined. In exchange, Lord Negi had access to Kaki methods for handling groundwater, which were long-established in Kaki's wetlands. The focus in Kaki was to preserve a flow of mineral-rich water to their fens, which maintained carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycles. However, the same techniques that controlled water flow in Kaki could also be applied to Negi's flooding issue.
This, Lord Negi could work with. He haggled a price with the greedy Oichi until finally both sides relented; Kaki's groundwater flow methods, in exchange for an average discount to Negi goods.
While the Negi nation modified their infrastructure, the time of the peace banquet rolled around. Oichi assigned Minamoto to guide the western region's management, while she and the rest of her retainers rushed to prepare their nation as a host. Considering the gravity of Makoto and Nishihara celebrating a ceasefire together, the scale of the banquet was building up to be that of a nationwide festival. On top of Oichi's already dizzying workload, she was organising food, drink, lodging, and security for not just Lord Nishihara and Makoto's parties, but also for the workers whose talents she was commissioning:
Chefs to replace tavern staff that were being temporarily moved to Kaki Castle. Drafted locals to run crowd control in Kaki's densest towns. Even temple priests and priestesses to string streets with paper lanterns and make kites for decoration, since temples understood the meaning of capturing history in kites.
Lord Negi then proposed he also contribute to the celebration, seeing as he and Kaki had just solved an issue. With the Negi nation indirectly assisting Kaki's western border with population overflow, Oichi generously allowed Lord Negi's addition to the banquet, which meant even more work. She cared little for Lord Negi's desire to boost his status by sitting at the big kids' table; Oichi was only interested in hearing from Lord Negi directly how well his reconstruction was progressing. If Oichi was going to question the status of two large nations like Makoto and Nishihara, she might as well take care of the industrial Negi while she was at it, and get all her stress out of the way.
On the first day of the celebration, an exhausted Oichi ended up welcoming her guests from her council room's dais with grace, showing none of her fatigue and worry. She made sure to pin her festive clothes under her slinged arm as a reminder to Makoto and Nishihara of what unrestrained conflict could cause for others. At the same time, the sight was sure to curb Lord Negi's unreasonable fear of the Kaki nation's lord.
Oichi warmly greeted Lord Nishihara and Negi to her right, and Lord Makoto to her left. One guest accompanied each daimyo, while the rest of their company lounged in the adjacent antechamber whose doors were kept open. For the Makoto and Nishihara, it was Uchiha and Senju retainers. Lord Negi brought a few shinobi and it seemed his state officials, while his son sat next to him.
When the banquet began, Lord Negi gestured, and Negi the Younger rose from his place at his father's right. The young man shuffled in brightly-coloured robes to kneel before Oichi and fill her sake cup with silent grace.
Those who witnessed the sight, Oichi included, stared in mute shock. Serving drinks was a task meant for invisible castle attendants: people who ordinarily had no place in the council room of a daimyo's castle while it was occupied, but who were permitted solely for their use in a menial task. Sharing drinks between landlords, retainers, or landlords and retainers was an indication of deep bonds between the two. However, Negi the Younger was neither a castle servant nor a figure Oichi could even pretend to be close with. He was, in fact, a complete stranger.
Festive music swelled above the heavy silence of the council room.
"This…" Oichi recovered. "This must be your beloved son, Negi-dono." Of course, who else would Lord Negi keep by his side in front of important company, if not a son he favoured? Oichi's comment was an exercise of politeness.
Lord Negi perked up as if noticing. "Ah, my eldest and most treasured, Ryouichi. My son, why don't you greet Kaki-dono?"
The handsome young man retreated the sake bottle and dipped his head. "I am honoured to meet an accomplished general as Lord Kaki."
Oichi returned his greeting with a nod. "A daimyo is as that bottle, with his or her blessings poured into different strengths. If my deepest cup is that of war, your father's is that of economy. Regardless, I will accept your compliment."
Lord Negi laughed. "Kaki-dono is too humble!"
Behind his sleeve, Lord Nishihara frowned at the minor lord's behaviour before Oichi. Lord Makoto was no better, though he was prone to scowling. Still, the two daimyo's closest retainers tellingly didn't touch their dishes or sake as they watched the exchange from their lords' sides.
Oichi turned to Sanjuro by her elbow. "I cannot fail in generosity as a host, even with an injured arm. San-chan, kindly pour drinks for Nishihara, Makoto, and Negi-dono." In that order.
Oichi's faithful retainer obeyed, indirectly dismissing Negi Ryouichi back to his seat.
"Nishihara-dono," Oichi continued. "We all know the purpose of this banquet well enough. How fares your country?"
Lord Nishihara and Makoto grasped control of the conversation, lifting their heads with dignity. Oichi hadn't known how she'd be able to maintain authority as a host over the self-willed rivals, but Lord Negi's presence was unexpectedly giving the two daimyo an outlet for their pride.
Still, as a host, Oichi couldn't allow a guest of hers to suffer subtle humiliation. As the banquet's energy picked up, Oichi permitted everyone to rise and wander as they pleased. She thus excused herself and retreated to a courtyard outside of the council room, inhaling the fresh air and festive energy beyond the inner walls.
Musashi stepped up to her side and followed her eyes to the servants and retainers jovially eating and drinking in the heart of the vast courtyard. Every inch of the castle was a setting of celebration.
Musashi spoke softly. "How goes the banquet for Your Grace?"
Lord Nishihara mirrored Musashi's quiet arrival to Oichi's left with a tilt of his lips. "I believe the answer is clear. Kaki-dono's eyes have rarely strayed far from Lord Ryouichi all night. He is as handsome as the poem says."
Oichi didn't know which absurdity to address first. "Poem?"
Nishihara hummed,
"Overcast sunlight
Slides west across gentle planes,
A delicate face."
Musashi nodded in silent applause at the recital. "A literary artist offered to write well of the Negi nation if he was allowed entry without a guild's license. During his time in Negi, the artist sold his poetic collection of handsome faces the most. The Record of Beauty is a common read among peasants."
Nishihara chuckled. "It helps that young Ryouichi has the looks to justify the poem about him."
Musashi chuckled with the landlord. "The anthology has seen success outside of Negi, quickly spreading between the maidservants."
Oichi's brow twitched. "I think several of my sisters have a copy. I'll have to check the anthology's contents later." She didn't want her little sisters exposed to rubbish.
The retainer and two daimyo pleasantly conversed as another hour slipped past, drinking in plum wine and the lively atmosphere. When they drained their cups to the bottom, Nishihara gracefully turned to Oichi with a solemn face. Musashi quietly excused himself in the background. "...Kaki-dono. If you are going to consider Lord Ryouichi, I request you also consider my eldest."
Oichi's lively gaze flattened. "I would have to consider Makoto-dono's eldest, as well." She glanced sharply at Nishihara before he could negotiate. "Makoto-dono's and your sons would be concubines of equal rank while a man like Lord Ryouichi would be my first husband. Seriously…for what purpose do you have to speak such nonsense?"
"You will marry someone." Nishihara waved an arm in dismissal. "I am glad to see it will not be a Negi, although if you decide to exercise your unpredictability, I will be forced to push Shin'ichi forward for the rank of first husband. I will not lose to the capricious Negi-dono in any manner."
"I'm not marrying your—" Oichi cut herself off before she could say something irreversible. "…I will not have a concubine. For all my life, I shall love one man, and he shall be called husband."
"You are a daimyo," Nishihara refuted. "The traditions of your gender cannot touch you."
"I do not speak to be political," Oichi clarified.
"Then your fellow daimyo walk on sand, and not stone," Nishihara stated. "For the wary, where may they find peace if not through a familial bond?"
"Wary of me, are you?" Oichi scoffed.
Nishihara stepped in her path before she could leave. "I am your loyal ally; my mind is at peace. However, how you create allies from here on out affects not just you, but me as well. Consider my wisdom, Kaki-dono. If monogamy you seek, then you alternatively have many younger sisters."
A cord snapped inside Oichi. Before she could realise the depth of her offended feelings, Lord Nishihara gracefully excused himself and departed to refresh his wine.
Oichi wordlessly gestured to the side, and Musashi diligently materialised to receive Oichi's cup and refill it. She paused before fully settling the sakazuki in his outstretched hands.
"No more," Oichi instructed. "I am flushed enough."
Musashi silently nodded once and disappeared into the council room, sliding the door halfway behind him for Oichi's privacy. Indeed, Oichi's face was red with contained anger. She willed it away faster than its development, rushing to clear her skin. She was not just a party-goer. A passing expression from her could flip the festive mood for four entire nations, and she couldn't afford the luxury of someone beyond her immediate retainers catching sight of her outward displeasure.
The first night of the banquet thus closed with flowing drinks. Four more nights awaited.