"I'm sorry?" I asked, my face and voice utterly deadpan.

Hiruzen raised an eyebrow, almost daring me to disagree even as he smirked lightly while half-hiding the expression behind his pipe. "I believe I spoke clearly enough, young Kotaro. What point needs clarification?"

I narrowed my eyes at the old man. "I just got done teaching. I'm in absolutely no hurry to pick up more students."

"I see," Hiruzen nodded slowly. "It's good, then, that I'm not asking you to take full-time students. This is more of a... tutoring project. They would still be required to attend the relevant hours in the academy and any clan activities. As a result, their time with you would be limited to only a few hours, two or three, each day. If that, even."

I sighed a tad bit theatrically. "So what happens if I claim all of this as clan secrets to get out of dealing with a set of brats?"

The Hokage blew a cloud of smoke off to the side. "Tradition dictates that I must honor such a claim, in the hypothetical event you were to make one. Although, such things only apply to either nobility or family groups with at least one serving shinobi in Konoha's forces or in training at the academy."

Translation: Grampa War Crimes will make this go away if you join the military. Right.

"Yeah, thought it was something like that, but I had to at least try," I stated, rubbing my chin as I tried to come up with another excuse.

The problem was...objectively, it was a good idea. I really did need to start teaching other people at least the basics on how to maintain, repair, and operate my technology. The problem was that few adults, even among shinobi, were pragmatically mature enough to obey instruction from someone who'd just turned thirteen, was not an active-duty ninja, and had no publicly-known accomplishments to their name. Oh, the Hokage's word (along with Itachi and Shikaku if it came to it) would count for a lot, but there was also the issue of any adult shinobi possibly being an infiltrator or on the take from some foreign power or information broker. The problem was made more complicated by requiring someone skilled with chakra, intelligent enough to understand my lessons, and low-visibility enough that their absence wouldn't be noticed by those same foreign powers.

Which meant teaching a group of young children, preferably all from established clan backgrounds, was ideal.

It was, as one might imagine, a problem I'd been mulling over for some time.

"I suppose Sai and Torune aren't enough?" I asked, frowning.

"They're good shinobi," Hiruzen paused pointedly, blowing another cloud of smoke, "in their own way."

I nodded, because that was really all one could say about them without, well...

"But regardless of their abilities in the field, my talks with Obito and Itachi have given me the understanding that their time under their previous superior has... limited their ability to, 'think outside the box,' as I've heard you put it." The old man tapped his pipe into an ashtray and began to slowly reload it. "Beyond that, though, they also have other duties that limit their ability to learn your arts in a more dedicated fashion."

Which...fair, I guess. Even if a good portion of their job involved surveilling me, there was a different kind of attention involved in picking up what I was putting down as opposed to ensuring both my safety and the village's safety from me. Or at least my experiments, but that was splitting hairs.

"So... I feel the need to preface any agreement on this subject with a request for the status on the compensation I asked for when I originally agreed to work for Konoha," I stated, not quite willing to agree yet, but knowing it was probably inevitable at this point.

The Hokage leaned back in his chair as he nodded, stroking his beard in thought. "Your request for a noble title has been difficult to fulfill, but I believe we've found an opportunity. I was going to wait until the timeline of events was more certain, as well as the Daimyo of Fire's attendance, but if all goes to plan there will be a solid chance for you to get your wish in three months during Konoha's chunin exams."

"That sounds promising," I stated consideringly. "What's the game plan?"

Lighting his pipe with a flick of chakra, the old man smiled. "The current Daimyo is a young man and one much more inclined to peace than war, unlike his father. Although, unfortunately, he is a bit of a dilettante. We can use this to your advantage, however, as he has proven willing to sell titles to individuals of great artistic ability should they provide him with some assortments of gifts, performances, bribes, and favorable recommendations from trusted sources. Konoha will, of course, discreetly provide a sufficient amount and combination of the former from a small fraction of our recently increased mission profits, but it would help your case if you could prove your own worth on an individual basis instead of merely relying on the weight of the village's influence."

I nodded slowly. "I can probably have something suitably impressive done by then."

"Nottooimpressive, now," Hiruzen cautioned with both good-natured cheer and a serious glint in his eye.

"I'll run a list of ideas by you a week or two in advance," I promised, given that it was an entirely viable concern. Part of me wanted to make the guy a chakra-saber and just leave it at that, but I could find some shred of creativity to really impress him while maintaining my cover as ameregenius.

Probably.

"Now that I've assured you I do not intend to renege on Konoha's end of the bargain..." Sarutobi stated leadingly.

I chewed on the idea a bit more. "I reserve the right to refuse any students that I don't think are capable enough to make the cut or who prove problematic for any other reason."

"Entirely reasonable," Sarutobi granted with a genial nod of his head and wave of his hand. "I try not to insist that any jounin take a student they feel is unfit, even if there are occasions where the consequences aren't what I could call preferable."

Definitely a reference to Yakumo.

"I'd also like to put off any lessons for at least another month. I have to finish preparing for Kushina's operation now that she's given the go-ahead and figure out a way to deal with Rin wanting to be a part of it." My second stipulation only got another nod instead of an objection.

"As long as the lessons begin before the chunin exams, I have no compunctions about you setting your own schedule," Hirzuen stated. "Anything else?"

I sighed. "You could at least try to make it look like I had a chance."

The Hokage removed his pipe and smiled tightly. "I'm afraid I have no idea what you mean, young man. Even if I did, though, experience has taught me that those deceived in the way you are claiming to wish for tend to cry foul when such deceptions are revealed."

Again, fair enough. What was that saying about old age and treachery?

Well, if I was going to be conned into expanding our agreement, then I was going to ask for a very dear price indeed. "I also want a guarantee that you'll allow me to properly embody Kokoro."

The previous amusement on the old man's face faded into a serious and grave expression. "That... is not something I can so easily agree to."

"Which is why I'm asking for it." My blunt reply at least shifted him to a more pensive and thoughtful mood. Visibly, at least. His thoughts could have been anything. "Teaching a group of one-day shinobi how to operate and, eventually, duplicate even technology at the level I'm currently at introduces a level of redundancy to my existence. I'm well aware of that fact, Sandaime-sama, both the good and the bad implications."

At the moment, I'm irreplaceable. Once I start teaching others, that's no longer the case.

"I fail to see how this should compel me to a more favorable disposition on this matter," the Hokage admitted candidly, then grimaced. "Kotaro, what you're asking for... it's a very difficult thing for me to approve of. Even if you believe her to be a child, that could merely be what she has deigned to show you, not the full truth of her existence."

"Which is why I've been building failsafes into both her new body and others that I can activate independently to ensure she doesn't get out of hand," I replied.

Hiruzen said nothing for a long moment, then took a deep drag on his pipe and slowly released a stream of smoke. "You would be willing to wager your life on keeping her under control?"

I looked the old man directly in the eye. "I will."

The stream of smoke rose up sharply through his nose as he inhaled again, nodding. "Very well, then. If she takes a single life of a Konoha resident in anything other than an act of the most obvious self-defense, be they civilian or shinobi, I will find you in breach. Both your lives will be forfeit."

I was surprised, just a bit, that Hiruzen was willing to go so far, but I could see the logic.

I was a wildcard in the great game the Hidden Villages were playing, already displaying the kind of power which could vastly increase Konoha's standing. On the flipside, that same power was deeply tied to my own judgment. I held no illusions that Sai and Torune were watchdogs reporting every development they could understand and, likely, speculating on the ones they couldn't. The latter of which had been increasing over time if I judged by the frequency and intensity of questions the two asked. In concert with the occasional interviews by Itachi and Obito, it was a near certainty that Hiruzen understood that their ability to control what I could and could not accomplish was rapidly coming to an end.

Training students would be a long-term solution to this issue, but there was little they could do in the short-term.

At least, other than make a value judgment on how beneficial my continued work is to the village.

Because, if I couldn't be easily understood, it would be equally-difficult to control me, which would in turn make me a very dangerous asset.

More than simply making a deal, I couldn't help but feel that this was the Hokage's way of explicitly putting me on notice. He was forcing me to acknowledge exactly how long my 'leash' was and what would happen if I tried to snap it.

I'd have to intensify my options of last resort.

Keeping the thought far from my face as he brought up the topic of my latest prosthetics projects, I clarified a few points of interest he had before things shifted. As the meeting wound down, we closed the deal and Hiruzen informed me of his preliminary pick of my first three students. If I accepted, at least.

Given the three he'd picked, it would be difficult to refuse.

"Hyuuga Hanabi, Uzumaki Enkai, and Sarutobi Konohamaru," I read off, nodding to myself as I flicked through their files in a rather irritated huff. Hiruzen's expression told me that he was, at the very least, glad to have gotten the last word in. I couldn't very well dismiss anyoneof them given they were thick as thieves, and it would be a tricky thing indeed to refuse the Hokage's grandson to his face. More than that, Naruko would never let me hear the end of it if I denied her little brother the opportunity. Which, given that she was on the same team as Satsuki and Yakumo was a near-eventuality. "I'll accept them on a trial basis. Their academy scores aren't bad, but they've only had a few weeks. It's too soon to tell."

Hiruzen nodded, siling tightly again. "I'll have their full files sent to you in a month just to ensure you have all of the information you need to make your decision."

"Speaking of the academy..." I hesitated. "Have you looked into that teacher? Mizuki?"

The Hokage hummed. "He's been evaluated discreetly and a judgment made."

I frowned, having seen the man near the school recently. "I... see..."

Curiouser and curiouser, as they say.

Hiruzen fixed me with a pointed stare. "You've done your duty in reporting your suspicions. Trust me to do mine in ensuring a thorough investigation and a correctly-deliberate course of action."

I nodded slowly. "Very well, then. If that will be all, Lord Hokage..."

The old man nodded. "You have pressing business elsewhere?"

"I have a date," I stated.

He smiled and gestured towards the door. "Do not let me keep you, then. I would hate to be the cause of disharmony in an already-complex relationship."