Ren, Ino, and Hinata entered their house in their secret training ground, and Hinata instantly headed to the kitchen while Ren and Ino walked toward the couch in the living room.
Ren flopped onto the couch with a groan, covering his eyes with his forearm as he inclined his head back and leaned it on the top of the backrest, feeling absolutely drained.
Just like he expected, Hiruzen pretty much told them fuck-all about Konoha's true intentions. There was a whole lot of bullshit about the need for peace and duty to the village, and whatnot, but other than that? He didn't even hint at anything resembling the reasons why Konoha was so happy to give one of their S-rank ninjas away.
It made no sense. They should fight tooth and nail to prevent this. S-rank ninjas don't grow on trees. Konoha could secure the alliance by offering a chunin with connections, maybe a Jonin at most, and yet...
Thankfully, Ren had Hinata. His adorable spymistress, who could use Byakugan without any outward tell. Ren had no idea what she discovered from the documents in Hiruzen's office and the rest of the Hokage Tower while he was trying and failing to pull some useful info out of Hiruzen. But from the rigid anger that had shown on her cold expression, the second they left the Hokage Tower, it was obvious she did indeed find something.
Which was why they decided to teleport to their secret house in their secret training ground, instead of going back to Ren's apartment after the girls created Shadow Clones to take their shifts at their workplaces. Maybe that would be noticed, and maybe not. It didn't matter. They could handle a bit of scolding. They really needed to have a very long talk about what the hell had just happened because this came absolutely out of nowhere for all of them.
Unfortunately, talking about serious issues through the telepathy seal could be quite uncomfortable because of all the emotional and otherwise sensations that were involuntarily shared via that connection. Unless it was absolutely impossible, they preferred to talk things out out-loud. Preferably with some snacks or over dinner. There was less chance of missing something important that way.
Suddenly feeling a cold sensation hit his cheek, Ren slightly raised his arm and looked underneath his forearm, only to see Hinata standing in front of him, holding a cup of iced water to his cheek.
Reaching and taking it into his hand, Ren gave her a small, grateful smile as his mood slightly improved. "Thank you, sweetheart."
Hinata hummed with a small, satisfied smile appearing on her face and went to sit on the armchair facing the couch where Ren and Ino were seated. Ren adjusted his sitting position to no longer be sprawled across the couch, while Ino was seemingly absorbed in writing something on a scroll and seemingly ignored Hinata's presence. But Hinata abruptly lifted a finger, just by an inch, and noticed a minuscule, instinctual shift in Ino's posture trained into her during their countless sparring sessions. She nodded to herself. Good. Ino was paying attention.
"My clone will have the food ready in half an hour. We can start talking about this mess until then." Hinata offered before she sighed. "I have quite a few things to share with you, most of them, well, not good for us."
Ino hummed, and as she was done with her writing, she straightened up, "Yeah, I kinda figured. Hiruzen might have tried to say nothing about Konoha's leaders' true intentions, but he revealed far more than he probably wanted with his body language. I can probably add to Hinata's intel, and we might get a better picture."
Realizing that they were trying to be considerate, Ren sent them a small reassurance and gratitude through the telepathy seal that made them relax their tense postures.
"Alright. Thanks, girls." Ren said, "No reason to put it off, so" He looked toward Hinata. "lay it on me."
"Firstly," Hinata nodded, and her lips turned into a disgruntled half-grimace, "The whole 'Suna requested you for a political marriage' is bullshit. Sarutobi had the transcripts of the negotiation with Sunagakure in his drawer. It was probably why he kept glancing at my eyes so much during the meeting." Hinata chuckled, but the sound came out somewhat strained and not at all happy.
That piece of information made Ren widen his eyes a bit, while Ino frowned, furrowing her eyebrows while looking distracted. Ren knew that look. She was rebuilding whatever mental image of the situation she had constructed in her mind to fit Hinata's intel into it.
But Hinata did not pause and simply continued speaking, "Sunagakure wanted an ironclad defense alliance. The 'Somebody attacks us, you come defend us and declare a war on them, too' kind. But it was Konoha's higher-ups that proposed a political marriage to cement it. Sunagakure's side was naturally surprised and doubtful... and that's where the meeting adjourned because not even the negotiators capable of signing off on trade alliances could just decide something like this on their own." Hinata paused and glanced toward Ren with a measure of shame for her village as her voice rang full of distaste at what she was narrating.
"And I guess at the very next meeting, the Konoha leaders offered me up?" Ren asked, feeling incredulous. He wasn't very good at politics. Yes. But at this point, even he was starting to catch up. Konoha offered the marriage option first when it had never been done between the hidden villages previously, and somehow, he ended up being the groom. Right.
No. Somebody wanted him out of Konoha. As for why... Ren's heart went cold. He could think of many, many reasons why people might want him out of the way.
The memory of seeing Danzo just strolling out of Hiruzen's office before their meeting came to the forefront of his mind, and Ren almost gritted his teeth. Because it might sound insane and unlikely, but what were the chances that the old men found a common goal?
"Can't say, actually." Hinata shrugged, surprising Ren with her reply. "It truly was Sunagakure who requested you first during the next meeting. At least in that, Sarutobi did not lie. The suspicious part is that there was not much negotiation about it. Konoha caved in awfully easily. They did talk about our relationship, though..."
"And? That's the important part, bitch." Ino suddenly interjected, sounding mightily irritated. She even reverted to her usual nickname for Hinata. "What did they say about us?" Ino's serious voice was something Ren did not hear very often, but he usually did not like what followed whenever it appeared. He braced himself for the blows.
"TLDR? Ren shall be shipped to Suna. We stay in Konoha. We can meet 'anytime' we want." The derisive sarcasm in Hinata's voice could cut through chakra metal. Honestly, Ren didn't even know she could make a sound like that. "Which means we would most likely meet once every two to three months when we find enough free time for three to four days long traveling a distance between the villages at full ninja run, plan for staying at least three days, and then take another three to four days to come back. At least, that's the estimate they talked about." Hinata finished in an unimpressed deadpan.
Despite the serious atmosphere, Ren couldn't hold it in and burst out with uncontrolled laughter. He even started hitting the couch with his hand because this was hilarious. Hilarious bullshit.
Anybody who knows how vacation days work could tell you that taking a week to two weeks of vacation every other month is just not going to fly. The ninjas had it even worse. They were always 'on call'. There was no such thing as a vacation.
Going by the system Hinata was describing and putting it out of the realm of kid-friendly fantasy with cold, hard facts of real life? Make that two to three months bullshit into five to six, and it would start looking more likely once the very likely possibility of the village meddling was accounted for.
Ren didn't have any delusions that Konoha was not going to try keeping Ino and Hinata as busy as possible or that they were eventually going to find an irrefutable way to promote them to Jonin rank, in which case they would get even busier.
If they wanted to spend at least a full week with him before having to go back to Konoha, they would need two weeks of free time for that. Even under the best estimates, Ren couldn't see a way for Ino and Hinata to be granted two weeks of vacation more than every five months. Especially when they become important pillars of Konoha's might as its S-rank kunoichi.
Maybe they could squeeze in a day-long visit every other month if Konoha was accommodating and sent them on some delivery missions to Sunagakure. And that was probably what they meant by 'a meeting every two months'.
Frankly, Ren found such an arrangement highly undesirable.
But this is where the problem lies. Looking at ninjas as if they were soldiers was not wrong, but it was fundamentally incorrect. They literally belonged to their village while on active duty. They could be assigned suicide missions. They could be sacrificed to another village for peace. They could be pimped out in seduction missions. Well, technically, the Hokage could do whatever he or she wanted with the village's ninjas.
Sure, the Kages try to pretty it up and not treat their ninjas like indentured servants. Usually. After all, a good PR and happy minions could go a long way to increase the effectiveness of the village's forces. But it did not change the reality.
Ren could tell Hiruzen to go fuck himself to his face. But he may as well go rogue right the instant he refused because the refusal itself would be taken as treason. That's why he never outright said no to the old man. He is a Konoha ninja and, as such, he is expected to do his duty. His acceptance was never a consideration. It is assumed he would happily oblige his orders.
And they were very heavy-handed with this crap. But that still did not change the fundamental situation. Ah, he was starting to understand why so many S-rank ninjas ended up as rogues if this is how their villages treated them.
Clan ninjas had the benefit of their clan's protection. The Hokage could never do this to Ino and Hinata. Not without a literal uprising. It would be political suicide. Sadly, Ren was the clan head of a clan with a single member. And the higher-ups actually seemed to want him out of Konoha.
Hinata's clan was never going to stand up for him because the people who politically mattered in the Hyuga clan most likely hated him due to the entire situation within the said clan.
Ino's clan could and probably would support him, dragging both Akimichi and even the reluctant Naras into his corner. If... if so much did not hinge on the treaty.
Ren couldn't even take that as a betrayal from old Inoichi or Choza. The world was closer to the beginning of the Fourth Ninja War than ever, and to prevent it, Konoha needed allies, fast. They couldn't openly oppose the village's plan to reform the alliance with Suna.
Maybe they could protest the choice of the groom to get Ren out of this mess. But even that meant they would need to offer a good alternative. Like it or not, Ren was a great fit. He didn't have any truly hidden Jutsu belonging to a clan, nor did he have any important bloodline. At least, that's their perspective. Yes, giving away a seal master would hurt Konoha, but it is still better than giving away a bloodline or hidden Jutsu that literally enabled the formation of an entire clan around it.
Ino and Hinata could personally support him, and with three S-rank ninjas, they might get their way. But by doing that, they would become outcasts. Their sparkling reputation after saving the village from invading forces would be ruined in a heartbeat once it was revealed that it put the village at risk of the Fourth Great Ninja War. Even that outcome led to Hiruzen's political victory.
No. Ren was truly and irrevocably shafted here. Half of the council wanted him gone from Konoha for their own reasons, and the other half could not oppose it even if they wanted.
How could he not find the entire situation ironically hilarious? If he weren't laughing so much, he would be gaping like a fool at the absolute checkmate the Konoha's old, scheming foxes gave him.
It was either Suna or going rogue for him. There was no other option, and both sucked. Unlike the fanfictions portrayed, the life of a rogue ninja was not easy. It really was not worth it unless there was no other option.
And Suna? He is the mentor of the girl who slaughtered hundreds of their ninjas during the invasion. Like, serves them right for invading, but somehow, Ren doubted Sunagakure people were going to be reasonable about that little tidbit. It was bad enough that he would be a Konoha ninja stationed in Suna after the bad blood between their villages, bad enough that he would be boinking their princess in the bedroom, but adding to that his relationship with Ino? Oh, he was going to be despised more than Naruto was in Konoha, wasn't he?
Ren gasped for breath and leaned back onto the couch, his cheeks hurting from all that laughter, but he felt oddly refreshed and impressed.
He underestimated Sarutobi way too much. He was starting to see why the man managed to keep the hat for so many decades.
Ino, however, was way less amused with the entire premise, and the narrowing of her expression showed it. "They are trying to separate us? Tsk. Of course, they are trying to separate us." She mumbled loud enough to be easily heard. "We are a trio of S-rank ninjas with a lot of fame currently. If we wanted to take over the village, it would be bloody, but manageable. They also most likely think that Ren is a bad influence on us because of the whole fiasco with promotions. Shipping him to Suna would break our little special pact." Ino bit her lower lip in thought.
"They may even think that we," Hinata clearly meant herself and Ino, "might break our friendship if our relationship with Ren flops. We are from two different clans, after all. It wouldn't be so strange. Make some issues between the Hyuga and the Yamanaka clan, and voila." Hinata shrugged. Such was the ninja way.
"No. I won't have it. We can still turn this around. We haven't lost yet!" The venom Ino put into these words was full of outrage, but Hinata only scoffed.
"And how do you want to do that, bimbo?"
"What else? Let's kill everybody standing against us and take over the village." Ino breezily stated with a smile that was scarily cheerful as she nodded to herself, confirming in her mind that her idea was the correct one.
Hinata opened her mouth, but Ren spoke first.
"Girls." He softly said with a small, amused smile, "Stop." Seeing that neither Hinata nor Ino was happy about it, and both were ready to argue, Ren quickly continued. "We lost." He huffed. "There is no shame in that." He tried to channel a comforting tone into these words as he let out a breath.
"Then we can always go rogue. I can say goodbye to my parents in half an hour. Other than that, I am ready to leave." Ino said, somewhat sourly as her shoulders sagged.
Hinata nodded, frowning. "I have everything I need in my wrist seal. I am ready to go, too."
"And what?" Ren lightly snorted as he looked at Ino, lifting one of his eyebrows. "Abandon your clan? Your parents? You are the heiress, Ino."
"I have cousins who can easily take that role." Ino protested.
"And you also love your clan, your position in it, your parents, your job. Going rogue? No. I don't think so." Ren deadpanned, and before Ino could protest again, he snapped his head toward Hinata. "And you have your sister. Abandoning her would hurt you. I can't do that to you. Either of you." Ren looked between the two girls, whose expressions turned reluctantly conflicted, yet mullish.
Inwardly, Ren warmly chuckled. These two. They would totally follow him into the life of a rogue if he let them. He sighed, but couldn't help the happy grin that followed.
"And it does not even matter!" He loudly exclaimed in a mirthful tone. "We can teleport and be together anytime we want. They can't take that away from us. They don't even know about it!" Ren barked out a laugh. "They won! But who cares? Fuck them!"
At first, Ino and Hinata looked stupefied and astonished at his attitude, but slowly, they both joined him in his laughter.
As the laughter subsided a few dozen seconds later, Ren managed to turn serious enough to continue despite the small smirk still tugging on his lips, "So, I have two choices. Either go to Suna or go rogue. Any ideas?"
"We could eat dinner?" Hinata's clone smugly suggested as she came out of the kitchen, balancing several plates of deliciously-smelling food on chakra strings behind her.
...
AN: For those who don't like these long discussion-type chapters. Sorry, guys. There will be one or two more chapters like this before the plot moves on. Ren's goals are going to shift as he is absolutely outplayed by Konoha's Elders and must reevaluate his entire approach to dealing with the supposed endgame of the Narutoverse. I tried to portray it as best as I could, even if some people might dislike it.
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Author Note:
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