Shin swallowed.
Coughed.
Rolled his neck.
Left the bathroom.
His suggestion wasn't going to be taken well—he knew that.
But it was his honest opinion, his best guess at a viable way forward.
It just…
Wouldn't be popular.
Sakura said the Hokage would be understanding, and it was only he that Shin really needed to convince.
Shin still wasn't sure he could do it.
It was asking…
A lot.
Shin joined the cluster of officials making their way to their seats in the conference room, the various Heads of Departments and temporary Heads of the Utilities and Justice Departments (their previous Heads having been killed by the byoki) as well as the new and old Heads of the major clans of Konoha.
Shin's clan had a new head—Shikaku.
He'd already been co-running with his father for years, but his father had generally taken on the meetings for his son.
Shin had liked Shikadai. He had been an amazing Head, stolid and hard-working and always willing to hear you out.
He wished there had been time for a funeral.
Shin filed in last—he wasn't any sort of Head, but he'd been called to give a special report on how to cool relations with the Capital and nobility and—
He was very glad for his Sensei's work teaching them how to keep their face clear of secrets, of feelings.
The Hokage appeared immediately after the last Head had taken her seat.
He cleared his throat, gestured to a hovering Obito, who promptly began passing around the brief (20–30 page) weekly summary that Minato had mandated several months ago. It had started as an agenda, Shin had been told, then expanded. The summaries would be burned before the end of the meeting—along with any other papers that were intended to be passed out, so Shin made sure to begin committing it to memory the second he got the papers.
"Alright, my remarks first. Research and I have teamed up to create a plan to hunt the byoki. There is no set timeline yet, but it will happen in due course.
"Second, the war with Kiri seems to be finally coming to a close. This week the frontline noted a decided decrease in the number of opponents, and Commander Nara has reported that he believes a few major pushes are all they have left.
"Everything else is in the document.
"Now, I believe Diplomat Nara Shin has a proposal."
Great, he was going first.
Shin stood.
Bowed to the Hokage.
Shuffled his own notes.
"My proposal attempts to mitigate several of the issues Konoha is facing at once. Two major ones are the ongoing aggravation of the nobility over Konoha's more egalitarian beliefs gaining a foothold in the countryside, as well as the Daimyo's frustration over the number of Samurai lost in the war against Kiri and, as of recently, the byoki as well." That had been something which was almost immediately figured out—even when the byoki began attacking more widely, if it was anywhere near someone with developed chakra coils that was its first choice.
"While placating attempts have, in the past, produced some results in slowing the growth in antipathy, a stronger statement is needed by Konoha in order to repair inter-Fire relations.
"I suggest the following: after Kiri has run out of men, Konoha should send a forward battalion and take over the Water Daimyo's palace with permission from the Fire Daimyo. The territory in the Land of Water should then be split proportionally to the nobility, according to how many Samurai—"
Shin paused.
The angry murmuring had reached a pitch he could no longer ignore.
"So what?" Uchiha Fugaku snapped. "You expect us to do most of the work, suffer so many more deaths, and—and give away what little reward there is to have?"
"We need the resources provided by the Land of Water," Co-Head Uchiha of the Research Department added. "We are currently suffering from a severe resource shortage and that is our best chance at improving our situation."
Shin wished Sakura hadn't thought it was too much of a conflict of interest and skipped this one.
Several more Heads were clearly ready to interject their own objections, so Shin jumped in while he still had the chance.
"While that is true, Kumo's tentative jabs at Frost's borderhave so far been successfully staved off using the new Research technology. The lightning rods, however, do not work in the water—it is very likely that when we move to claim the Land of Water, Kiri will attempt to use the required water voyage to their advantage.
"This would also happen if we give the land to the nobility, but should they need our help to repel Kiri's forces—and they will—then we can negotiate payment, as Konoha's founding treaty only mentions Konoha's mandate to protect the mainland. Incidentally, this also applies to Uzu—our work protecting the whole of Uzu from Kiri's attacks can and has been sold in the Capital as a sign of good faith that we do not feel has been properly reciprocated."
"So—" Head Inuzuka interjected, "we give them the land, then charge them for us to help protect it with all our new seals and doohickeys?"
"Exactly. And part of that payment—or all of it—can be in the form of resources we currently have a shortage of."
"It's too much to give up," Head Hyuuga objected. "The Land of Water is a massive trade hub, resource-rich, and was considered a Great Nation. If we held it directly…"
Shin waited, but Head Hyuuga did not finish, apparently certain his point had already been made.
So instead Shin nodded. "You're right. The Land of Water is incredibly important, and—until the end of this war—is a Great Nation. Which means Konoha holding it directly will cause animosity between many of our allies and, in particular, Suna, who made its displeasure following our colonization of Uzu quite clear.
"By 'gifting' the land to the nobility and the Daimyo to hold directly, both parties are appeased and our international allies will see us growing stronger but not so strong as to require another war.
"In addition—"
Shin stopped.
Stared at his notes.
It needed to be said.
He didn't want to say it.
"In addition," he repeated. This time, he wanted his emotion to show.
"We do not have the population to control the Land of Water directly. We are no longer defending Suna's borders at all, Konoha has, at best, five percent of total forces within—and that's mostly injured and genin—Kiri's forces are shrinking in number but ours continue to struggle to keep up, bandits are running wild within Fire's borders—"
"We know," Sarutobi Biwako, sitting in for her husband, said. Then, more quietly, "we know."
Shin could continue—
Could point out that Konoha was no longer running trials for most cases, just throwing people in jail—because most of the police and Justice Department were on the frontlines, fighting with the fulltime combatants.
Could point out that the byoki had killed many civilians too, that Konoha's economy was surviving on nothing more than sheer determination, and even then only barely.
Could point out that the byoki had targeted genin, students, even babies—that their population (which had been experiencing a boom due to internal migration up until this year) would take decades to recover.
Could point out that whatever the byoki was doing to decrease birthrates (and Sannin Tsunade seemed fairly certain it was the byoki) was still ongoing, would hurt Fire's total population for who-knows-how-many years to come.
He didn't.
Sarutobi Biwako was right—everybody in this room already knew.
Instead Shin pulled out his stack of copies of the written report of his plan, the how-to steps.
Before he even had a chance to ask, Obito was beside him, grabbing the papers and dispersing them with practiced ease.
Shin glanced at the teen, eying his new hairstyle with interest—the boy's current tattoos to allow him to "see" were right by his eye, but it was clear that he'd recently gotten a crew cut, and all but the top of his head had been left completely bald.
Interesting.
He glanced at the other faces surrounding him, the stress lines, the greying hair, the overgrown beards. Even their clothing—disheveled, probably worn for a bit too long.
The entire room smelled of sweat and exhaustion.
Shin found it in him to continue.
"Ceding the Land of Water to the Daimyo and nobility doesn't solve every problem we currently face, but it does help."
Silence.
He hadn't expected that.
Everybody waited for someone else to speak first.
Someone—maybe the Utilities Temporary Head?—shrugged. "I agree. We need the resources Water has, but we don't have the resources to control Water ourselves."
Another nod, this time from Head Aburame. "I agree. Why? If we sell our protection services, we can only sell to those with the most resources, and avoid stretching our forces too thin any longer."
More murmurs of agreement. None were happy, but—none were willing to argue either.
Shin hadn't expected that.
At last, eyes turned to the Hokage.
"Talk to the Daimyo," the Hokage said. "Get the ball rolling. It hurts, but it is necessary. We… we've suffered too much already."
Shin bowed, sat.
Someone—the Head of Infrastructure, maybe?—was gestured to next. "Head Nohara. I know we have no time frame on repairs, but is there anything that we can feasibly do?"
Feasibly.
That was the word, wasn't it?
Head Nohara frowned, then shook his head. "We are doing the best we can, but civilians who do not have extensive ties to shinobi are fleeing the city, which is making it take longer."
"We are seeing that in the Academy as well," Education Head Utatane interjected. "It's… bad."
Everyone frowned. All of their various sections of Konoha were badly affected by the byoki attack and its ramifications, but Konoha was reliant on civilians to provide the economy that the shinobi lifestyle was built around and Konoha was equally reliant on students to form the next generation of the military forces, sealing forces, and Konoha-loyal civilians.
The Infrastructure Head continued, giving very rough timelines on the most important of the repairs—the main building, the prisons, the sewage system.
And then it was time to talk about Kumo's recent jabs at the border—jabs which were far harder to counter than Kiri's.
After that, discussions turned to the continued resource deficit, the worsening debt Konoha was facing in general.
A brief touch on Orochimaru—mostly just to warn everyone to keep an eye out, especially due to the man's recent in-person appearance.
Then to the very high rate of refugees from Kiri and Water as a whole—the bloodline clans may have begun the stream, but the number was now substantial, particularly when juxtaposed with Konoha's own stifled population, and there were many concerns about cultural clashes.
What to do about that, of course wasn't clear.
What to do about Kumo also wasn't clear.
Or Orochimaru.
Or just about anything else.
Shin's face remained calm, stolid, but inside his stomach sank. His proposal might have been agreed to because it was the best option, but the reason the customary arguments against were so short was because a solution, any solution, that had benefits as well as costs, was better than what they were facing for just about every other issue.
What would Konoha have to give up in the coming months to stay afloat?
What would they be forced to lose no matter how hard they tried?
Would, in only a decade's time, there even be a Konoha to call home?
Less than two hours after the meeting started, the Hokage called it to a close. "For those of you headed to the frontline, a railcar has been arranged and is awaiting your arrival. Everybody else, I will see you—or a representative—in two weeks, barring…
"Barring any more emergencies."
Everyone stood, bowed, left.
Shin wasted no time, beginning his press back to the Capital to continue his work promoting Konoha.
He hoped that the next time he visited Konoha—
The next time he even saw it—
It looked like a home again.