Chapter 83 Around the Table
The early morning sunlight came pouring through the windows, coming in with the sun was the smell of the multiple flowers, which had been so carefully planted outside in the garden. The sound of the wind charm added to the singing from the songbirds as they woke up and greeted the dawn. Opening her eyes was the ruler of this land, Ino Yamanaka Namikaze didn't want to move from her current position. The bed was too warm, too conformable and she did not want to leave the people she was currently sharing it with. She lifted her head up to see that Sakura had taken her normal spot to Naruto's right side while Hinata had decided to sleep beside her. She looked toward the clock and groaned, it was time for her to get up. She moved toward the bathroom and took a quick shower paying close attention to her hair that she always did. Once done she did her hair into her normal long ponytail, she was about done when Naruto walked into the bathroom.
She cursed a little bit to herself because while she had to do so much to get ready, all Naruto would have to do is put on his standard Day uniform and then throw, his Onikage robes over it all. He did not have to do his hair, makeup and get the dress perfect. Naruto must have sensed her anger because he somehow got out of the shower without her noticing and while she was busy looking in the mirror doing the final touches on her hair, he came up behind her and kissed the side of her neck.
"I can't wait for this to be over and we can all get on with our lives," said Naruto as he kept kissing the side of her neck.
"Me too." admitted Ino as Naruto went back to getting ready himself for the most important meeting in both of their lives.
The train ride with the Daimyos was something Hanabi wasn't looking forward to. She had been in a state of semi imprisonment at a hotel in the heart of their city. She had to stand there and listen to the Daimyos chew out her and Onoki for surrendering. They did not seem to understand that they had been surrounded and in a death trap and their only choice was to either surrender or die. They just could not process that they had lost.
The train pulled out of the station as it headed toward the large bridge which bridged the gap between the island and the mainland. Hanabi looked out the window as the train passed a large defensive position built into bridge itself. Hanabi could not help but wonder how many ninjas would have to die to take that position if they had ever taken the city, a matching defensive position sat on the other end only this one somehow looked even harder to take then the first one. The train then moved toward the towering mountains. When she heard of a secret city sitting on these mountainous island was laughable. Then she saw the tunnel entrees guarded by a third defensive fort, the train then passed through a tunnel which was likely guarded as well or at least honeycombed with defensive positions. Then the train came out of the tunnel.
"My God, they have this hidden behind the mountains," stated a minor Daimyo as he looked out over the rolling hills covered with forests. They passed by golden fields of grain before finally the train passed through another wall and entered the capital city of the Land of Granite.
"We would never take this city," admitted Hanabi as she looked at the twin walls of this city. The diplomatic party moved through the city passed another wall before entering the main city. What they found was a city, which was made out of perfectly cut stones. In the Leaf most of the buildings was built out of wood here where wood was an actual import they had used the granite and other stones which they had in a large supply to make the city. Even the roads where made out of stones perfectly cut so that water would run off the road and into the water removal system.
They moved toward the Onikage building with its domed top, to get inside they had to move pass a tall colonnade of black granite and through Aldhard doors, which had engraved images on them. Inside they found a circle chamber which had paintings along the wall and a large statue of Naruto standing in-between two of the columns which supported the Roof. Engraved upon the statue's base was "Naruto Namikaze, the 1st Onikage."
"We have something similar back home," noted Gaara as the delegation was led downstairs toward the grand meeting hall located directly under the grand hall.
The grand meeting hall in the Onikage building was located below the grand hall. The room itself was designed to allow the public to view the meeting of the leaders of the village. To allow this the room was built like a mini stadium with a lower ring where tables or podiums could be set up with galleries for the public. Today a quarter of the gallery was set aside for all the visiting minor daimyos who would generally follow the will of the main five daimyo. Another Quarter was given to the handful of neutral powers along with different business and trade groups. The remaining half was given over to people form the land of Granite, Animals and Meteors.
In the well of the meeting room was a long table with six chairs on one side and nine chairs on the other side. The table itself was made out of Aldhard with a top made out of solid black granite, the rock had been polished smooth and shinned until it was almost a mirror. Across the top edged into the granite was the symbol of the village hidden in the Granite. The chairs themselves would have been too heavy to move if they were made out of granite so they were instead made out of Aldhard with cushions.
The galleries where full of people hours before the actual event took place, a lucky few had reserved seats in the front row but aside from the Daimyos and other leaders it was first come first served. All along the outer circle stood either fully armored knights, Green Sea Dragon Marines and Granite Ninjas none of them had weapons out but all of them had weapons in plain view.
It was to this that the first of the Northern Daimyos entered to take their seats; they started with the smaller daimyos who lacked any real ninja force. By the law, they had a voice at the table the equal to any of the great powers but in truth, they were of little importance. Next came the those Daimyo who still lacked any military power but they had more power in terms of the economy, Daimyos from the nation of Tea and the Land of Vegetables where among those among this group. The next group who moved to take the front row was the middle ninja powers such as the Daimyo of the land of Grass and the land of Rain. At the moment these power actually had more forces intact then the major powers.
The last group to enter was main Daimyos who would sit at the table across from the leaders of from the land of Granite, Animals and Meteors. The Daimyos from the great five ninja powers where joined by their captured Kages, Hanabi and Oniki. The two free military leaders who were also down at the table where the Kazakage Gaara and a Samurai General.
For the first time in the big five Daimyos from the land of Wind, Earth, Fire, Water and Lightning had to wait. This was done for two major reasons, first to show them that they were not the center of the world and secondly to show to the public who was really in charge.
Finally the six leaders from the land of Animals, Granite and Meteors took their seats. Representing the Land of Animals where the Queen Avo and her husband Lord Eastman. They were both dressed in rich silk; Queen Avo wore a white and silver dress with the White Raven of her house in purls across her chest. A large diamond necklace hung from her neck and a headband of white gold and more diamonds sat just above her eyes.
Her husband wore a golden silk; over his chest was leather armor with the golden phoenix of his house rising up from flames. He wore a sword on one side of his hip and a dagger on the other, each of which was covered with jewels. The two of them took the seats to the far right of the table.
Next entered Ino and Naruto, Ino was dressed in a black silk kimono in truth she would have preferred her favorite blue one but her nations colors where black and silver so she was dressed in black and silver. The dress was mostly black with silver highlights on the sleeves and other places. Her three signs of vanity came from the large necklace and earrings that Naruto had given her a long time ago and as always her wedding ring. If anything Naruto was less flashy dressed then she was, he wore his black and silver Onikage robes with his long sword hanging on his back. When he arrived at the table, he pulled Ino's seat back for her before taking his sword off and hanging it across the back of his own chair. The two Namikazes took the center chairs straight across from the Fire Daimyo and the Hokage.
The last two to enter looked more like they belonged in a sea port bar then around the negotiation table. They were the supreme Commander of the Green Sea Dragon and his son, both of them where in stain-leathered armor with chainmail over it. They both smelled of sea salt and looked as if they hadn't bathed in at least a week if not longer. The elder had a large double-handed battle-ax, which he rested against the table while his son had a smaller one-handed ax and a short one-handed cutlass. The look the Daimyos gave to the strange mix of allies was almost worth laughing at but this business was too important.
"Shall we begin?" asked the neutral party, one of the business leaders who ruled the land of Bronze. He sat at the head of the table and it was his job to smooth the troubled water. The land of Bronze while having a close and strong relationship with the Land of Granite and Animals was a nation run by businessperson. They also had strong business links to all the others nations and the business leaders around the world. They wanted peace so that they could make money, an occasional war is good for business but they had grown tired of this pointless war. They wanted trade among the nations not bloodshed.
Behind him sat the small group of neutral nations. In truth, there was only three and two of them where neutral in words only. The Leaders from the land of Savannah, which bordered the land of wind, was all but allies of the Land of Granite. They had a long history of hate with the upper ninja nations but they had remained on the fence because if they did not they would have been wide open to an invasion. That did not stop them from telling the southern nations whenever a northern army was moving south or letting the army under Naruto from setting up camp on their land. The land of Demons was a stranger case, they were never going to fight on either side or Priestess Shion past relationship with Naruto meant they were more than welcoming to the demon army under Sasuke who passed through their land. They also refused any real aid when it came to helping the armies of the rest of the ninja world.
"Yes." confirmed the Fire Daimyo as he took a breath and lifted up a piece of paper. "We the honorable nations of the world have come here to this city in hopes of putting an end to this war. In our generates mercy we have this agreement to offer you. Your nation will be allowed to rule itself and engage in peaceful none military trade with whomever you want. We will not however accept that your nation will have any military force, your weapons factories will be destroyed and all your defenses structures outside of city walls. You will not be allowed to have a standing force outside of 500 police forces. Also you will repay the nations for the damage you have done to the peace loving people in this war."
The Fire Daimyo smiled as he pushed the paper across the table to Ino.
"Here is the deal, sign it and we are done," said the Fire Daimyo, to everyone's amazement Ino actually picked up the document. That caused the Daimyos to smile, and then ever so slowly she placed the paper against the burning flames of one of the ceremonial candles, which sat on the table. The Dainyo's eyes widened as they watched the paper be consumed by the flames.
"Lord Daimyo and all the other Daimyos who signed this paper, do you not realize that the world has changed?" inquired Ino as the flames moved up to her gloved hand. The Aldhard armor laced into the silk meant she felt no heat and her cloths did not burn even as the flames reached her hand. "You are not here to dictate terms of peace to us; we are here to dictate terms to you."
"How dare you." blustered the Earth Daimyo "We are the world you are but three nations."
"And look at what we have done to you." said Queen Avo as she turned to her husband. "How many enemy divisions have been killed in this war?"
"Not counting the one that was taken when with the help of our enteral friends from the Land of Granite we retook our nation from the invading samurai force, seven maybe eight." confirmed Lord Eastman with a grin.
"That would be around 80,000 ninjas killed or captured compared to deaths on our side at under 500." said Naruto "Actually according to our intelligence our military force outnumber the rest of the world. Your one edge numbers is gone."
"Don't forget all the ships we sunk." added the Sea Dragon Commander as he took a drink of water.
"We burned the Leaf to the ground, along with countless other villages." added Ino "We marched through your land and you could do nothing to stop us. It is over, you have loss now is the time to realize that."
"Lady Daimyo, I am sure they understand that the situation has changed." Said the businesspersons from the land of Bronze "If they didn't they sure do now, now would you share with us your terms for ending this war."
"Yes, we have some mandatory demands that must be met for this talks to go on and for this war to come to an end." stated Ino "First the Land of Granite is a free and independent nation which has all the rights of any other nations in the world. Secondly, the Land of Granite will from now on be considered a great ninja nation the equal of the Land of Fire, Land of Water and the other three ninja nations with all the rights given to the great ninja nations when it comes to missions. Including the right to have ninja forces pass through land on missions and to take part in fair Chunin/Jonnin exams."
Ino like all the others could see the anger building in the daimyos, they must have known this was coming but they still did not like it one bit. Well the news was going to get worse.
"Also we demand reimbursement for all the private property taken by those people who had to leave their home nations to come to build a new life in the Land of Granite." Said Ino as she thought about reading the price Temari and Shikamaru had come up with but decided against it. "Our allies also have demands that must be address and I will turn it over to them."
She looked to the Green Sea Dragon commander a sign that he was suppose to start.
"Our demands are simple," said the Commander "We want free passage into every port, none of our cargo will be taxed at the docks."
"How will we make any money from imports?" snapped the water Daimyo, most of his money came from shipping and fishing.
"Don't you have similar deals for ships owned by companies which your cousins and friends own?" asked the Sea Green Dragon Commander with a grin which would have gotten him slapped by whatever woman he had been hitting on at the bar.
"We require a matching deal, only with shipments of food from our nation by train," said Queen Avo with a smile, since food was the largest export from the land of Animals it made sense that they wanted to improve their position in that market.
"We will never allow that," snapped the Earth Daimyo
"Well that is your call, but what would be worse for your bottom line. We have the files which you stored in the Sound Bank and burning them would be so easy, with them gone how will you know what you actually own and who has to pay taxes." Inquired Ino
"Also we can have our armies on the move within a day and how many of those smaller nations behind you would be open to making deals with us to avoid what happened to the Leaf and the land of fire from happening to them?" inquired Naruto
"Lord Onikage, while I understand why you made that threat we are here to make a peace a threat will not more war." said the Land of Bronze leader who was trying to keep the meeting civilian. "Now as for your Lord Daimyos must know that the stance you just took would not be acceptable, both of you will have to be willing to give up some of your stances if you truly want peace."
Over the next few hours both sides went back and forth in an attempt to find common ground, not surprising it was the demands from the Land of Animals and Meteors, which was settled first. Instead of getting the break from all import taxes that, they wanted they ended up agreeing to 20 years of no taxes with an additional 30 years of half the tax rate of other importers'. When it came to the Land of Granite having a ninja force was a larger issue, the Daimyos did not want to move on accepting that the land of Granite as a ninja power of any kind.
The dame broke after they had taken their afternoon break and the failed attempt by the Daimyos to make separate peace deals with the land of Animals and Meteors. When the knights and Green Sea Dragon laughed in their face at the attempt to break the allies apart it was the Daimyos themselves that broke. The lower Damiyos without a ninja force to defend their lands and who didn't have the money to buy a private defense force broke with the upper Daimyos and began crying out for peace at whatever the price. When they went so did the united front that the Daimyos had held together and soon a peace deal was agreed upon. It was far from perfect but in the end Ino could not help but smile, they had gotten almost everything they wanted.
Her nation, the Land of Granite would become the sixth great ninja nation and would have all the rights of any other ninja nation. The only thing that they did not get was repayment to the citizens of the cost of all the personal items, which was left behind when they left their old village. When they finally agreed Ino stood up and offered her hand to the Fire Daimyo, for a moment the Daimyo refused to take the hand, finally he reached out and took her hand. Just like that, the war which had torn the world apart had come to an end.
Well the War is over and at this moment, I only have two maybe three chapters left in the story. Until next time, please keep reading. Thanks Wilkins75.