Yamada Taiga wiped the sweat off of his brow as he pulled the completed draft of a sample edition one of the new Academy textbooks off of the press. If this went well his small publishing house would be commissioned with the job of printing the Academy textbooks in the future, his business would make a great deal of money, and he would be able to expand like he'd been dreaming of doing for years since he'd taken over the small company. If it didn't, well, the fate of the last publisher served as a warning.
By tradition, the Academy textbooks had always been printed by the publishing house that the Nidaime had commissioned to print them upon the founding of the Academy. For two generations and change, that had worked well, as the texts produced by that publishing house had been of good enough quality that there had been no complaints. After the Kyuubi attack, when the younger son who had definite ideas of what was and wasn't appropriate for children, and may have been in the pocket of the Uchiha Clan before the Massacre, took over however, the quality of the Academy texts took a sharp drop. Apparently, the poor man who was currently entertaining the T&I department had omitted one too many important historical facts in order to make the books more appropriate for children, and the Hokage had finally taken offense.
As he ran one of Konoha's two other publishing houses, he had been contacted for a potential contract to print the Academy texts in the future. All of that hinged on whether or not the Hokage liked the version of the Academy history text that he'd just made more than he did his much larger rival's however. Both he, and his rival had been given texts which they were supposed to base their sample texts on yesterday, and given twenty-four hours to create a prototype, despite the fact that such a process usually took weeks or even months.
He had gone all-out from the moment he had received the book he had been given, and had not once stopped for rest as he hurriedly researched everything he needed to bring the text up to date, and selected the materials that he would use for the sample edition, being careful to pick things that he could get alot of on short notice on the off chance his text had been selected.
With the expense the village would be incurring on this project in mind, he had of course done his best to potentially save the village money on his edition of the Academy History text as well as print it according to the Hokage's guidelines. One of the ways he had done this was to print all of the formerly glossy color pictures in black and white, which may be the decision that destroyed his chances considering the fact that his book didn't look anywhere near as attractive or engaging to young minds as the sleek brightly colored editions that were going to be fueling a fire somewhere.
In an attempt to make up for this, when he went down to the archives for pictures of more recent historical events, he chose one of the action shots that had been taken during the Third War for the photo of the Yondaime rather than his inauguration close-up, and one of the more haunting photographs of Uzushiogakure from after its fall, as well as one of the few actual shots of the Kyuubi that had been taken during the attack. And, for the older events, he had checked to see if the archives had any better images than the ones which had been supplied in the older text. He had found a rather brotherly shot of the Shodai and Nidaime Hokages standing together which looked rather promising, and had used it rather than individual photos of the first two Hokages in order to save a little more on the cost that was incurred when printing photographs.
As he was looking over the text, checking for potential errors which would most definitely cause his version to fail and give the contract to his rival, a man walked in. Based on the way the man's eyes kept flicking nervously towards the Help Wanted sign he'd placed in the window earlier that morning in anticipation of an increase in business, it was obvious what the man who looked like he'd recently gone through a rough time wanted.
"Tell you what," he said to the man before he introduced himself and started on what looked like a near hopeless spiel about why he was right for the job, "If you can convince the Hokage to adopt my version of the Academy textbook, you can have the job. If not...There won't be a position for you to fill."
On the surface, it seemed to be an irrational and somewhat unreasonable demand to make of a potential employee, but the reason he was doing this was because he was very poor at public speaking and giving sales pitches, which was why his business was so small in the first place. Despite the fact that he held some small hope that his version of the text would be selected, he knew that he would be too nervous to speak in front of the Hokage, too afraid that he'd flub something and lose the contract.
He'd been planning on asking his cousin who was off-duty today to make the pitch since he'd been in the Hokage's presence enough times to be used to it but, a man who looked to have little left to lose, and every last one of his hopes riding on this however...That sort of man would either be able to sell Fire Country tea to the people in Tea Country, or he would bomb spectacularly. Either way, the man wouldn't do any worse than he himself would do in front of the Hokage, and might actually be able to open his mouth in front of the man and have something intelligible come out. As a bonus, if he sent his potential employee, he wouldn't have to bribe his cousin by printing something that was more than likely illegal on at least half the continent.
Considering how happy the man had looked at the prospect of even having a chance at a job, he almost felt sorry for him. He would be feeling a bit sorrier for them both if the man failed, which was almost a given since his rival was a much larger publisher, and about the only thing he printed that made money was a reasonably well received magazine on household tips for housewives that had a decorating advice column which he wrote himself each month. But, there was a slim chance that the both of them would be able to get what they wanted right now, which was better than the none that there would be if he went to speak with the Hokage himself.
After giving the man the figures he asked for, and wishing the man luck, he watched him depart with his hope in his hands. It was a small hope, but it was a hope nonetheless. If the man turned out to be a spy from the rival company, which he began to suspect he was based on the questions he asked however, he wouldn't bother hiring ninja, he would kill him himself.
As soon as he departed the publisher's, Haruno Kita went somewhere quiet and sat down with the book that he had been given in order to familiarize himself with what was potentially his only chance at securing a job in Konoha. It wouldn't do to have the Hokage ask him a question about the text, only for him to end up floundering for the answer. Fortunately, Sakura had inherited her speed-reading talent from him, and he was able to put it to good use. After flipping through the book, he went to a nearby convenience store, and purchased a notepad in order to make notations of things that could be changed in the second draft of the book if necessary.
As soon as he was finished making notes on the text, he went home, changed in order to make himself more presentable, and headed to the Administration complex in order to seek an audience with the Hokage. When he was ushered into the man's office alongside the representative from the other publishing company who was holding a rather slick looking book that had apparently just come off the presses less than an hour before, it was to find a bunch of Chunin, one of whom he vaguely recognized as having been a teacher of Sakura's, grouped around the Hokage's desk, flipping through a set of old books, and discussing something.
"Ah," the Hokage, who was standing surrounded by the group of Chunin, pointing at a particular passage in one of the books, said when he looked up and took note of his and his companion's presences. "I see that the representatives from the publishers are here."
After receiving an indication that he should do so, he nervously strode forward and set the book he was carrying down on the Hokage's desk at the same time as the other publisher in a move that almost seemed choreographed despite its spontaneity. Compared to the sleek and beautifully colored example that the other publisher had run off, his offering looked rather paltry, as the choice of color that the publisher had selected for the cover was one that wouldn't be ruined by dirt or grass stains. Frowning slightly, the Hokage, who was undoubtedly used to seeing the brightly colored covers of the usual textbooks, tapped the clothbound cover of the book he had presented. This didn't bode well for his employment prospects.
"Is there any particular reason for this?" the Hokage asked.
"It was thought that the textbooks would last longer if they were made more durable, and thereby reduce replacement costs." he replied. "The cover can be changed however."
Satisfied, the Hokage nodded and opened both books at the same time in order to compare them. The difference in quality was immediately apparent, as the other text had every page made out of the same slightly glossy paper that his potential boss had reserved only for the photographs in his text. This made the pages of the book he had presented look rough in comparison.
"More cost cutting measures?" the Hokage asked, looking up at him.
"Yes." he replied. "My employer is aware of the potential cost of replacing all of the Academy texts and thought it best to present you with a reasonably cost-effective solution. We are willing to make any alterations that you deem necessary however."
Following that, there was a long question and answer session for him and his counterpart from the other publishers as the Hokage and the Academy Instructors examined both texts. Several technical questions that weren't entirely related to the text were asked which left him sweating and wondering if he had failed before he began. He was an accountant, not a book publisher, or a Ninja Academy graduate like the other man had been, and it showed. Eventually, they were dismissed, and asked to come back tomorrow for the Hokage's final decision.
On the way out, he barely mustered up the courage to ask a question himself. A question that he thought important considering what had recently happened to him and his family.
"Hokage-sama?" he asked nervously.
"Yes?" The Hokage replied from where he was huddled with the Academy Instructors.
"Since you're changing the Academy curriculum, do you think it might be at all possible to add some sort of booklet to send to civilian parents to outline how to properly raise a ninja?" he asked, wondering if he had dug himself into some sort of hole by suggesting that they write something like that down where the enemy could get at it despite how useful it would be for civilians who have absolutely no idea where to begin when raising an Academy student. "My wife was forced to rely on word-of-mouth regarding the care of and training of our daughter, and there may have been some things that she had misinterpreted. A basic dietary guideline and some training recommendations at the very least would have been very useful."
"I'll consider it." the Hokage replied.
"Thank you." he said in relief before he left, glad that the Hokage didn't suggest that he entertain the T&I department for a while for even thinking about asking for something like that.
Eventually, he made his way back to the man who may hire him if all went well to inform him of the Hokage's decision, or lack of one rather, after he wrote down a list of suggestions based on the Hokage's questioning.
"How did it go?" the man asked in an almost hopeless tone of voice, as if he'd fully expected him to fail.
"The Hokage hasn't made a definite decision yet but, he has called us back for another meeting tomorrow." he replied. "I have however made a list of possible changes to make for the first edition if all goes well then."
"Give them here, and I'll take a look at them." the man said, holding out his hand for the notebook in which he had written his ideas.
After handing over the notebook, he headed home, nervously anticipating tomorrow's meeting, and knowing that it would likely be a wasted endeavor. Not only was the other publisher larger, they were more knowledgeable, and they didn't have him working for them. Thanks to the fact that he hadn't payed attention to what was going on under his roof like he should have done, and that he hadn't curbed his wife's more extreme tendencies, he had lost his job, and his good standing in the village. The Hokage would undoubtedly be aware of these facts, which would probably play a part in his decision.
Edited 10-6-12