In the council room,
"We need more funding from the Fire Capital if we want to reconstruct!" Said the civilian council representative, Harata Haruno with the support of most the civilian council.
"We are getting funding from the missions we receive. The Fire Daimyo's death has sparked a huge issue and for them our funding is of the least concern. Some of the ones who lean to the extreme side don't even want a ninja village to begin with," Homura said.
"WHAT! Do they know that the entire fire nation will be plunged to war if they remove Konoha!" Shouted a civilian councilor.
The half of the civilian council were ninjas, but they were utmost chunin in rank. So they knew how important Konoha was for the power balance. For some in the Daimyo's court to think they wanted to just remove Konoha was outrageous.
"Worry not, we have secured some loans. The Namikaze heir has given out money for us to run the village for an entire year. This funding gives more than enough time to wait until the ruckus happening in the Daimyo's court to subside," Said Danzo.
Everyone's eyes widened.
"And what have we offered him in return?" Asked Harata.
Harata Haruno has lost quite the fortune due to Naruto getting his inheritance back, but he can't do much about it since if he messes up a bit, his entire fortune will be lost. Him being investigated would uncover some dark truths about both the village and his fortunes.
"We have to let one of his executive have a seat in the council and gets to vote in meetings. As for collateral, we let him have control over The Leaf Parks, Konoha Housings, and some other apartments owned by the Leaf. He has bought most of the land we offered," Said Danzo.
"What! The Leaf Parks is about half of the land in Central Konoha! Those lands can go for billions!" Shouted a councilor.
"We have no choice but to do this. We have secured 50 Billion Ryo from this transaction and he also has loaned about 20 Billion Ryo which we have to pay him up with 12% interest every year," Danzo responded.
Everyone from the civilian side just grumbled, 12% interest rate was quite the good offer for them so they weren't able to refute it.
"We will be only paying up the insurance as stated in the contract. If you want further funding, I am afraid you have to get it through outside sources since in case of a war, we can't run out of money." Danzo continued.
"What happened to the selection of the fifth Hokage?" Asked Hiashi.
"We are still considering our choices. The candidate list is quite good, but we have to choose the best one out of them since we should not seem weak to our enemies," Said Koharu.
"Well then, I would like to nominate myself for being the Hokage, please consider my name for the selection as well," Requested Hiashi.
"We will," Responded Homura.
But little did they know, the fifth Hokage has already been chosen.
"We will now have to select the ones we deem are good enough for promotions," Said Koharu with everyone nodding with agreement.
"Shikaku's son, Shikamaru Nara has shown great analytical skills like his father, He has nearly won despite being disadvantageous. He should be considered for the promotion to chunin," Said Koharu.
The judges selected from the council all voted in favour.
"Sasuke Uchiha might have not shown much of his skills during the exams, but he has shown them in the field during the invasion. He should also be considered for the promotion. He has all the skills and the right mind for being promoted." Said Genma.
All the judges voted for yes for him being promoted.
"As for Sakura Haruno, she has shown skills for being a great kunoichi, I say we promote her since she only lacks the experience." Said Koharu.
Most the judges voted for yes for her being promoted.
Harata was proud that his niece became a chunin at such a young age.
"Then what about the Hyuuga prodigy, Neji Hyuuga?" Asked Anko.
"He lacks the mental aspect for being a chunin. He is definitely smart, but his pride and superiority complex which is worse than the Uchihas' would make him very difficult to work with," Ibiki said.
Hiashi mentally frowned. He knew that they were correct, but by the looks of it no Hyuuga was about to be promoted.
At the end, no one voted for Neji's promotion.
"What about Hinata Hyuuga? She shows exceptional skills in the art of Jyuken," Said Genma.
"She also has some personality issues, she is a similar case to Neji, but just a bit more tolerable," Said Ibiki.
Only 2 people out of the 6 voted in favour.
"Then what about the other genin, Shino Aburame?" Asked Anko.
"Shino is also not a good fit for being chunin yet. He is like a one trick pony. I say we can promote him when he is adequate in other fields," Said Danzo.
3 of the 6 voted in favour to Shino being promoted. With it being a tie, Shino gets promoted. This voting process is a bit unique, if it's a tie, then the motion passes since it doesn't affect the village too much.
"What about Rock Lee?" Asked Genma,
"He showed a good match, but he lacks the responsibility with comes after being a chunin," Danzo said.
"I say we compromise. He is fast and strong enough to take on some chunin from our village, so we promote him to special chunin. He will be assessed to see if he is good enough to be promoted to chunin in his missions," Ibiki said.
Everyone voted yes for this motion.
"And last but certainly not the least, Naruto Namikaze Uzumaki, The boy has successfully defeated a Bijuu, other than him only 3 people from this village can say such a thing with two of them being our Hokages and the other being Madara Uchiha. I say we promote Naruto to Jonin effectively! The boy is easily the fastest shinobi alive and has quite the arsenal. And since this is a vote for choosing someone to be promoted to Jonin, Only me, Jiraiya, Shikaku and the Anbu commander have a say in this," Danzo said.
"So those who are in favor, vote." He announced.
Everyone who were mentioned by him voted yes.
"But Lord Danzo, he is but a boy!" Said Inoichi.
"And that "BOY" you speak of Inoichi, was able to take down a Bijuu, although the weakest, but still is a Bijuu. Not to mention he still had enough energy to run around the village defeating enemy ninjas till they started to retreat," Replied Danzo.
That quieted down everyone.
"The motion clearly passes, Naruto is now a jonin of the leaf." Said Danzo.
"Now that both the Uchiha and the Uzumaki clan heads are and above the rank of Chunin, they can join the Shinobi council," Said Koharu.
The power balance between the civilians the shinobi clans has tipped in favour with the Shinobi council now. The shinobi council even with the same number of seats as the civilian council had more power due to having more money and having influence in shinobi affairs. but due to the absence of 3 major clans, they are about equal in power to the Civilian council.
But now with 2 of the major clans back, the power balance can tip in their favor once again.
The civilian council can't do much because the elders and the Anbu Commander currently held power equal to that of the Hokage right now. Now not only they lost one vote due to the loans the village took, but also the fact that 2 more votes will be there to mostly oppose their motions.
"For Now, the council will be dismissed. It's already 10 PM, we will hav another meeting at 8 AM tomorrow," Said Danzo.
Everyone made their way out of the council room.
The anbu commander relayed what happened in the council after the council was dismissed to Naruto.
In the Hyuuga compound,
"Ko, get my father and Hinata to my study now!" Hiashi ordered.
Ko immediately brought both Hiroshi and Hinata to Hiashi's study.
"Why did you request us to come here at this time of night?" Question Hiroshi.
"Did something happen in the Council?" Asked Hinata.
"Yes! A lot happened in the council! For one, the Hokage wasn't chosen yet, and second, You and Neji didn't get promoted!" Hiashi said.
"Only you two out of all the participants didn't get promoted," He continued.
"That's preposterous! Hinata and Neji were easily 2 of the strongest of all the participants!" Hiroshi shouted.
"Father, did you forget that the judges look for both skills and their mentality? Neji and Hinata's pride got the better of them, making them mostly useless during the invasion. They had lost most of their chakra and stamina to focus in defending our country. This was the main reason why they easily over looked both their promotions," Hiashi replied.
"The rest of the contestants were part of a S Ranked mission with the Namikaze as the head. The Namikaze boy was also the exception for the promotion to Chunin, instead being promoted to chunin, he was immediately bumped straight to the Jonin rank," He continued.
Hinata just scowled. This put a huge blow in her pride. Two civilians were able to become chunin, but the prestigious Hyuuga prodigies couldn't made her bitter.
"The Namikaze boy has also bought land and loaned huge sums of money to the village enough to run it for a year, so I won't be surprised if the candidate he supports becomes the Hokage," He said
"I have also requested for being a candidate for the Position of the Hokage. The reason why they haven't picked a Hokage yet is because the obvious choice, Jiraiya probably turned the offer down. Other than him, only Tsunade, Kakashi and I are strong enough for the position of the Hokage." Hiashi stated.
"So you need the support of Naruto for having a chance of being the Hokage," Hinata answered by stating what was in everyone's mind.
"Yes, your grandfather told you to keep an eye on him before didn't he? Now tell me what type of person he really is," Asked Hiashi.
"Well, he is a bit reserved, but is quite intellectual. He might be under a lot of pressure and him being new to all of this and no one teaching him about how to manage his situation, it would be easy for us to turn him to our side if e play our cards correctly," Hinata answered.
"Don't forget that Jiraiya is around him most of the time which would make it harder for us to approach him, The best bet we have is for you to go ask him out directly. This is so that no one will suspect us of anything," Said Hiroshi.
"It's quite hard for me to find him nowadays grandfather, he is mostly in a mission, or is out with his god father Jiraiya," Said Hinata.
"That's quite concerning. Jiraiya can read your intentions like a book since you are but a rookie at this. Then our other option is that we can do this is to be direct. A Hyuuga Uzumaki would make a strong shinobi! The Konoha council could also pressure him for this. Think about it, A Hyuuga who has a reserves of a jonin at the age of 12! A Hyuuga who can use the Byakugan for many days straight without even trying!" Hiroshi said.
"You are basically describing a village weapon. The only difference between your proposal the the Kumo's attempt at the byakugan is the fact that they tried to kidnap Hinata rather than forcing her to marry someone!" Hiashi shouted with a bit of anger.
"It would seem glaringly obvious that we are trying this to gain political power over Konoha. The only ones who would maybe support us are the elders. The others would see this for what this truly is," Hiashi continued.
Hinata just winced, the fact that Hiroshi didn't respond to the accusations just confirmed what her father accused Hiroshi of was true.
"What is so special about the Uzumaki's anyway? I thought his Namikaze heritage was the most important," Asked Hinata.
"The Uzumaki was a clan stronger than ours, they were probably as strong as the Uchihas and the Senjus during the Clan wars era. They were descendants of the Senju as well, this means after Tsunade's death, the Senju coffers will be added to the Uzumaki's accounts. The third Hokage made sure to protect all the Senju assets since both his teachers and his own student were all Senjus," Hiroshi said surprising Hinata.
"They were wiped out by the combined forces of Kumo, Iwa, Kiri, Ame, Kusa and a few other minor villages. This sparked the second shinobi war, Each village sent about half of their forces to attack them which was around 50000 ninjas in total. None of them came out alive, not even the 2nd Raikage who went there personally did," Said Hiashi.
Hinata's eyes widened.
"To think only 2000 Shinobi were there, of which only 400 were of Uzumaki, I went there personally to see the battle field, The entire country was tainted red," Said Hiroshi.
Hinata's eyes widened even further.
2000 shinobi versus 50000 shinobi was astounding! And that too either parties didn't survive that invasion was very awe inspiring.
"Right after your classmate's birth, his mother just minutes after giving him birth had subjugated the beast in its entirety. Without the her help, Minato would have never been able to seal the nine tails," he continued.
"That boy possess the nine tails, he basically is a weapon for the village. Another reason why the Uzumaki are powerful is because they have incredible life force, they can contain the nine tails within themselves. Only the senju were able to do it other than the Uzumaki. The Uzumaki were also so good at sealing it scared the other villages into attacking them," He said.
"FATHER! You were not supposed to reveal it!" Hiashi revealed.
"It's important that she has to see who he truly is! That brat has a lot of power in the village. If his status as jinchuriki is revealed, this will make him more revered among the younger ninja. He will have way too much influence and the pressure will only pile on top of him," He replied.
"So that was the red chakra he seemed to have in his stomach. It seemed as if it tried to escape, but is unable to," She said.
"Yes, that is how the seal is supposed to work," Hiashi answered with a glare aimed towards Hiroshi.
"Don't go around saying this. If you tell another soul, the council will have all three of our heads," He continued.
In the Konoha Lux inn,
"We need to meet with the Namikaze tomorrow morning! We have to draw up some plan to make him agree to our settlement!" Takashi said nervously.
The Kaze family drew up blank on what they should give to the Namikaze, they have been at this since the afternoon. They agreed to give Naruto a seat in the Daimyo court and a lot of the Kaze family's land. No one was there to object since Takashi's other kids were killed at an early age thus no one to refute.
"I have heard that he wanted to be the Hokage! What if we support him becoming the Hokage?" Kazuto said.
"No, those would be mere empty words. We may have some say in who gets to be the Hokage, but it's mainly the previous Hokage or their advisors who get to pick. We can merely recommend who becomes the Hokage and it may help their case, but it will be pointless if their name didn't even reach the candidate list," Takashi replied.
"Although we can say we will support him any way we can for his ambitions then," Kazuto.
"Yes, it may help us, but we need more concrete concessions," Takashi replied.
"Why don't we talk about this to grandpa Asahi. They might have lost a lot of money, but they still might have some assets we can use right?" Asked Ritsuko.
"I already did, the Namikaze brat already took 90% of what ever he owned. He basically gave up and is now retired," Takashi answered.
"So we have 2 choices, it's either give up and leave or, give all my power as Daimyo to some 13 year old and become his puppet," Kazuto said down cast.
"He is just some brat brought up on a common house hold as an orphan! We could just have Ritsuko control what ever he decides for the Fire Nation," Hiroshi said.
"That's quite plausible," Kazuto said.
"Very well then, we should prepare on how we should start of the meeting with him," Takashi said.
"What about Ayumu?" Asked Ritsuko,
"*scoff* The Hyuuga clan would come back crawling to us after we get our power back," Takashi replied.
"We wouldn't even require the Hyuuga clan, we will have enough support from the Uzumaki clan, Naruto is the grand son of Tadashi Uzumaki after all. If he attains chunin rank, he will have some influence in shinobi matters," Kazuto said.
"This is playing out to be too good to be true," Takashi said with a bit of excitement.
August 9t,
At the Namikaze residence
"ughh, too much paper work. I thought I got rid of them yesterday itself," He said to himself.
"Lord Hokage, These papers are quite important and require your direct approval. They are regarding the reconstruction of the Academy and what they teach there. There are some of my personal requests in which there are specific training methods are given to make academy students strong enough to be genin a few years before they even graduate," The Anbu commander, dragon said.
"Lord Hokage, the family of the late Daimyo wishes to see you," Said an Anbu with the mask of a bear.
"Ughh, I had too many of these alliance proposals now, but they are too important to kick out." He muttered to himself.
"Let them in, escort them to the meeting hall," He ordered.
Outside the Namikaze residency,
"Follow me," Said Bear, gesturing them to follow him inside.
Kazuto was pushing Ayumu's wheel chair with a bit of difficulty.
"Do you need a hand mister?" Asked Bear,
"Sure, thank you," Kazuto said. He hasn't ever done this much weight lifting (pushing in his case) ever, so he was a bit tired.
Bear escorted them into the meeting room and guarded the entrance of the place,
'why does he have anbu protecting him?' Kazuto and Takashi thought.
"Ah, it's an honor for the Kaze family to see me, so what is the reason for your meeting with me?" asked Naruto politely,
They had previously decided that Kazuto will do most of the talking since he was more like his enthusiastic and likable father who was in stark contrast to Takashi, who is cold and blunt.
'ugh, here we go again,' Naruto thought with a bit of annoyance, 'I will go with the direct way, they hold no real power anyways,' he thought.
"Hello Namikaze sama, I am the future Daimyo of the Land of Fire," Kazuto greeted.
"We are here to strike up an alliance with you," Kazuto said.
"What do I gain from this alliance?" Naruto retorted,
"Well, with me being the future Daimyo, you will be able to get a lot of connection with Fire nobility. You can become a really powerful person," Kazuto replied.
"Hmm, what do you gain out of this alliance?" Asked Naruto.
"Well, we will gain your support for me being the next Daimyo," Replied Kazuto.
"So you are not a future Daimyo," Naruto said, catching on to Kazuto's wordplay.
"Well, my position in the court it a bit... precarious since the other think I am too inexperienced or too weak willed, but my father had taught me a lot just in case if anything bad happens. I may be young, but I can say I would do a good job as the Daimyo," Kazuto said.
"hmm, What is the alliance about? Don't think that I don't know what happened in the Daimyo's court. Your family might have money, but doesn't have enough power to either hold it or use it effectively. In other words, you can't even use your own money," Naruto said, shocking the Kaze family.
'Does news travel so fast that even mere genin know of our plight!' thought Kazuto with Takashi thinking of something close to it.
"We still have access to some money, but this alliance with us will benefit both sides!" Kazuto said.
"And how so?" Naruto questioned. He knew he was in waters he has barely any experience in, but he thinks he could pull it off.
"If you ally with us, we can support your ascension to Hokage! We have some power over who gets to be the Hokage!" Kazuto countered.
"Hmm, although you have a point, you can only support me if I get on the candidate list in the first place," Naruto said.
"I can give you or some one of your choosing to be a minister in the Daimyo's court," Kazuto offered.
Naruto thought about it,
'Although I do have a seat secured over there, another post there will only solidify the fact that my goals can be accomplished,' Naruto thought.
"I can just as easily ask that to the other parties," Naruto countered.
"But the opposition want Konoha to be dissolved! It will only cause another war!" Kazuto gave his own counter
"What stops them from dying? Konoha shinobi?" Naruto retorted. Kazuto and Takashi knew what he was implying.
Kazuto bit his lip, knowing he is about to sacrifice something very important, There was simply no other way to win Naruto to their side but money.
"Do you know of the Shinzaku mines?" Kazuto asked.
Naruto's eye right eye brow rose,
"Yes, I do know of it," He answered.
With a huge gulp,
"That mine is under a shell company under Ritsuko's name," Kazuto said, making Ritsuko's eyes widen.
Even she didn't know of such a thing.
Takashi was baffled, Kazuto was about to give away one of the most valuable treasures the Kaze family held. But he kept his mouth shut because they would not be able to offer anything else. The mine was worth about 900 billion Ryo easily.
Naruto's eyes widened a bit.
The Shinzaku mine was secret gold mine known to only a few people. The Kaze family used it as a leverage for many of their political movements without even mining a single spec of gold from it for over 50 years.
Naruto now knew that the Kaze family was desperate. Desperate enough to give such a gem stone away.
"Hmm, that's quite the tempting offer I have been given," Naruto responded.
"I will have to think over it for a while, until then I request that you stay over at the Namikaze inn," Naruto continued.
They quickly left after that meeting.
In Konoha Lux inn,
"Pack up, I say he might actually accept our offer. I bet nobody offered to give him 900 Billion Ryo outright." Kazuto said.
"That's the problem! you gave him too much!" Takashi said gruffly.
"From some reports I was able to gather from father's office, about 400 Billion Ryo worth of assets were traced to him, and there is no dirt on that money we can use to black mail him. Just think about how much he would have hidden away then. He probably is about the 5th richest person in the Fire nation," Kazuto said.
Takashi's eyes widened.
For the readers: Naruto got that much amount through seizing Gato's shell companies where he launders the money. And it's quite hard for me to give a certain value to Ryo, so for now, about 1500 Ryo is equivalent to 1 gram of gold. So from calculating it from value of gold, the gold mine is about 52,800,000,000 USD (52.8 Billion Dollars)! So from calculating further, 1 dollar is about 17 Ryo. So you now know why Takashi is very reluctant to give away the mine. The value of gold might defer depending on what time you are reading it. For me, 1 dollar is now a bit above 88 USD. To make it easy for calculation I took it as 88.
Back to the story:
"After you become Daimyo, we should be quick to gain our wealth back. We can't always depend on the Namikaze," Takashi said.
"Yes, but we should do it discretely. If Naruto becomes the Hokage, it will make it more easier for us to control shinobi matters," Kazuto replied
In the Namikaze residence,
"Get Danzo and Jiraiya here," Ordered Naruto.
"Yes my lord," Tiger anbu responded.
Danzo and Jiraiya arrived after a few minutes.
"What do you need brat?" Asked Jiraiya jokingly.
"I had received a marriage proposal," Naruto started.
"What? I already told you to reject them all didn't I?" said Jiraiya.
"Well, this came from the late Daimyo's family. The current heir is willing to betroth me to his sister. He offered me the Shinzaku mines. From what I gathered, people estimate there to be at least 900 Billion Ryo worth of gold laying untouched there," He responded.
Jiraiya's and Danzo's eyes widened. They knew the value of the mines without Naruto telling them, Both made separate investigations on the Daimyo's family to see if they would conspire against Konoha.
"Well, what else did he offer?" Danzo asked.
"He is giving me or someone of my choosing a seat in the court. On top of that he will "Support" me in becoming the Hokage," Naruto smirked while saying support
"This is a very good opportunity, we should try squeezing some more out of them, and you will have both the powers of the Hokage and the Daimyo!" Danzo said with a bit of excitement in his tone.
"That's correct, I will basically have this country under my thumb," Naruto replied.
"I will negotiate further with them tonight, I will invite them to have dinner with us." He said.
"That's fine with me brat, but I don't like that you are not marrying for love." Jiraiya said.
"Well it doesn't matter now does it. The only form of love I would get is Fan girls love. Though it' is more like obsession if you ask me," Naruto replied.
"well, it's fine brat, We should get going now. We will have a meeting in the afternoon soon. The meeting in the morning went better than I expected," Jiraiya said.
Danzo and Jiraiya left to do their work.
"Hello Lord Hokage, You requested for me?" Asked Dragon.
"Yes, I have a mission for you and a few other anbu who know about me. I want you to spread good things about me, I will send 30 Root anbu under you to help you out with this task. I want this mission to be done until the official announcement of my ascension," Naruto said.
"Yes my lord," Dragon answered and left.
'If people repeatedly hear of my feat of defeating Shukaku will make me liked more in the village, so there won't be much of an issue if it's announced that I became hokage,' he thought.
In the Hyuuga compound,
"Lord! The late Daimyo's family had met with the Namikaze heir, they seemed happy for some reason," Said Ko, who was tasked to see the Daimyo's family.
"Call Hinata, Hanabi and my father, tell them to be dressed formally for a meeting!" Hiashi ordered. Ko set out to do what he was ordered of.
It was 2 PM,
and Naruto was still in his office, working on his paper work.
"Lord Hokage, the Hyuuga clan head and his family is here to see you," Said Bear.
"Another one already? It's been only 1 hour since someone came here for the same reason..." Naruto said Tiredly.
"Invite them in, and tell the chef to prepare something for everyone here," He ordered,
"Yes my Lord," Bear said.
"Tiger, escort them to my meeting room," He ordered.
"Yes sir!" Tired responded.
'Anbu? Even if he is the son of the fourth Hokage, anbu protection is stretching it a bit too much,' Hinata thought.
"Ah, welcome Lord Hiashi," Naruto greeted, not even batting an eye to Hiroshi, Hinata or Hanabi.
Hanabi didn't even know why she was here and who Naruto was even. All she knew was that he was big shot's son.
She was also a bit surprised to see an Anbu black ops member escorting them here.
Hiroshi just scowled a bit since Naruto didn't even acknowledge him.
"Please sit down," Naruto requested.
Naruto sat down in the head seat.
Hinata and Hanabi curiously looked around the place, it's the first time they have come here. The place was a descent sized mansion with a few rooms and a nice garden. there were seals protecting it from the Byakugan and from other attacks.
"May I request for the reason of this visit?" Asked Naruto.
"I am here to request for an alliance between the Uzumaki Namikaze clan and the Hyuuga clan," Hiashi stated.
Hanabi as a bit surprise with the sudden turn of events, she thought it was only some random meeting between her family and a noble.
"And what does it entail?" Naruto asked.
"We will betroth Hinata to you," Said Hiashi,
"And what do you seek to gain out of this alliance?" Asked Naruto,
"I expect that you help me become the fifth Hokage," Hiashi answered.
"I will select you to be my successor, the 6th Hokage in return," Hiashi continued.
Naruto internally smirked, he knew this would be one of the major reasons why Hiashi would come to his compound for.
Naruto outwardly frowned,
"Lord Hiashi, but I have no sway in such matters," Naruto said.
"We all know you were promoted to the rank of Jonin," Hiashi retorted.
"So? Lord Hiashi, I have no votes for the selection of the Hokage. I am neither an elder nor one of Late Third's advisors. I have no vote, and there is no assurance for the fact that they would listen a 13 year old's recommendation for Hokage," Naruto replied.
"Not to mention, there might be many issues if someone of the Hyuuga clan were to become the Hokage, with how you treat your own siblings, it will not give any sense of safety for the villagers, instead it might only scare them." Naruto continued.
These were valid points, Hiashi knew, Hiroshi knew, and Hinata knew. Hanabi just frowned at the way Naruto spoke to her father, but she was taught to keep her composure.
"Even if I support your ascension, some people still dislike me for you know what. It will take them a miracle for them to change their minds," Naruto retorted.
"You did do a miracle Naruto, you defeated the one tailed beast in an one on one battle," Hiashi said.
"Well lord Hiashi, I would be happy to be an ally of yours, but I don't think a marriage contract is what I want," Naruto said.
They had their lunch and left Naruto's compound after discussing a few more details.