AN: We hit 250 Power Stones! Thanks for the votes, and as promised, here is the bonus chapter. For the next BONUS CHAPTER, the target is 350 POWER STONES! (Thanks for all the support you've shown!)
"Greetings, Mr Yairya," the Third Hokage greeted him, smiling at him.
How dare he smile at me, as if his ignorance isn't the reason my entire family and most of my clan and village are dead?
Luckily, Yairya was a composed man, and managed to withhold his anger - for now, anyway.
The following conversation was a long mixture of propaganda, excuses, apologies, and demands veiled as promises.
"In exchange for our protection, care, and housing, we do of course expect the Uzumaki clan to contribute to the village, but you needn't worry - we've already got something in mind. We believe your sealing techniques, that the Uzumaki are so famous for, will come in handy for protecting the village in missions, and with strength the border too," Hiruzen said in what he believed to be a winning tone.
I can't imagine why the Uzumaki would disagree - after all, I'm offering the protection and legitimacy of an entire village, and the Senju brat can only offer the protection of one clan - for a clan that's on the brink of extinction like the Uzumaki, they can't possibly reject my offer!
Mr Yairya refused to even consider it. In fact, the man's primary goal in being there was merely to report the words of the Hokage and his faction back to Katsuro. Speaking of the Hokage faction, Yairya ensured he took a good look at the others in the room.
No, not him. No, she's a woman. That must mean, he thought, looking at the man with the cross shaped scar on his chin, it's him. He is Danzo.
Yairya's anger surged again, amidst the Hokage's yapping, and this time he was unable to control it. Despite him not being a Shinobi anymore due to physical injuries, the man's chakra reserves were still immense, and his anger manifested as a massive release of chakra, showing the power of the Uzumakis before the Hokage faction that had so heartlessly betrayed them.
"Respectfully, Hokage," Yairya said, barely managing to keep a neutral tone, forcing a cold, faux smile, "I'm afraid I must decline."
The shock on their faces was obvious and after a moment of pause the reactions came in.
"Excuse me?"
"Are you serious??"
"Do you understand what you are doing?"
But Hiruzen, keeping up his politeness, asked, "May I ask why?"
The elderly man nodded, "The Uzumaki clan is one that remembers - we do not forget easily." Yairya let the words hang for a moment before continuing, "We will not bite the hand that fed us. Lord Katsuro pulled us out of the darkness, without him I'm sure almost all of us would soon be dead. We trust him, and he has promised us his protection. His word alone is enough."
Koharu and Homura were speechless, thinking of the man as foolish. Koharu asked, "What? You would choose one man alone over the whole village? Do you even know what you are doing? Will your clan even accept this? Clearly we need a different representative here, one who can actually think."
Yairya did not grow angry at the insults leveraged at him, but the nerve to pretend as if what they were doing was good? That got to him.
"Hmph, clearly you are all delusional. Go on then, ask every single Uzumaki separately, see what they say. It won't matter. You should already know, shouldn't you? When your messenger asked for a representative, I wasn't the first choice. Each and everyone one of us see him as our leader - at this point, you may as well treat us as part of the Senju clan. Our very own sister clan who welcomed us with open arms, invited us into their homes. But yes, you are right about one thing. I would choose one man over this whole village, because that man is the one called Kaze no Sumeragi."
Without waiting for a dismissal, Yairya got up and left. His old age made him more blunt and he did not see the point in giving his respects to such manipulative snakes.
The elders were all outraged, screaming at how Katsuro had caused even an injured old man to disrespect them. But with the screaming all around him, Hiruzen could only look down and rub his temples, realising he had been completely outplayed.
"WHAT WAS THAT?!" Homura yelled. "HOW ARE WE ALLOWING THEM TO TAKE SUCH ADVANTAGE?!"
"EXACTLY! This brat is taking us, the Hokage faction, for fools!" Koharu agreed.
Danzo, meanwhile, inwardly smiled to himself, while on the outside also taking on a furious expression. The clear violation of Hiruzen's authority, by an old man who couldn't even fight, provided yet another chance to show how the current Hokage was not suitable to lead, and how it should be him instead. Hiruzen was clearly unable to make a decision and put all of their positions at risk to the rising danger of initially Hatake Sakumo, then the Senju clan and Katsuro, and now the Uzumaki as well. Danzo wanted to take this opportunity to show the village elders that he could be a more fit leader of the Leaf Village. However, he stopped himself.
First, he needed to get rid of those three problems, through Hiruzen, who as much as he despised, was needed as the current Hokage. At the moment, the power throughout the Leaf village was unstable and the support of the people of Konoha was dispersed. There were two main sides - one being led by Katsuro, with the Senju and Uzumaki, and Sakumo as well, and the other being seen as Hiruzen, along with Danzo and the village elders. Seeing this, Danzo concluded that he would use Sarutobi Hiruzen as a means to eliminate the rest of the competition, which would make his rise later on much smoother.
"I agree, Hiruzen. You've been played. Not just that, but that damn brat made us pay extra just to have a meaningless meeting with that old-"
The Root's leader's sentence was cut short by a chilling, unforgiving uproar of the Third.
"ENOUGH!" Hiruzen was now unable to contain himself, before he huffed and continued. "You all think I don't know this? You think, as Hokage, I don't see what's happening? I DO! But, I am still the Third Hokage. This Senju brat can't shake me. He won't. For now, we will play his stupid game. Until then, we wait and plan ahead."
The other three were stunned into silence. It had been a while since Hiruzen had released so much chakra so angrily and sharply. They could even sense three Anbu outside the office tense, but the Shinobi stopped themselves from entering, hearing the commotion die down.
Hiruzen slouched down into his chair. Each time he butted heads with the Senju Patriarch, he only saw an increase in his problems.
Meanwhile…
Back at the Senju Clan compounds, Yairya was just giving Katsuro his report on the events.
"Thank you sir, I really appreciate your efforts." He said with a bow.
Yariya bowed back, "Not at all, it is the least I could do. I will take my leave."
As he left, Katsuro's smile curved up even more, Damn, I wish I could have seen their faces.
Tsunade, nearby seeing his smile knew what he was thinking and shook her head seeing his antics.
Life for the Senju and Uzumaki continued, as the latter settled in comfortably. Katsuro had noticed a large increase in children since coming back, a small baby boom throughout his clan and the village after the war - a trend the Uzumaki would soon add to after they settled down.
But the amount of babies also meant that sometimes Tsunade would give him a certain look. One that would make his spine shiver but also brought him something he simply couldn't refuse. But they weren't even married yet, he would complain, when she would hint at him giving her a child, and that excuse brought its own set of problems - mainly her complaining why a ring was not on her finger yet.
Katsuro also made sure to visit the friends he had made, including Fugaku and other clan leaders, and of course, his master too. Meeting Kakashi was an experience to say the least - Tsunade even laughed, seeing the two side by side saying they looked just like brothers. The kid was already a genius, maybe even more so than when Katsuro was at that age before his parents died, but the Senju leader would never concede that, making sure to tease Kakashi that he still had a long way to go.
Tsunade would often smile at their dynamic - it would make Kakashi act more like the kid he was and not some brooding figure, and it also helped Katsuro as well. It reminded her of the dynamic he had with Nawaki, and seeing Katsuro's grin with the necklace around his neck, she felt the world was healing, little by little.
AN: If you would like to view up to 20 chapters ahead, and would also like to support me, please visit my P@TR30N, at pa tr eon.com / GhidorahWriter (remove the spaces). Thanks for reading and make sure ADD to your COLLECTION and VOTE with POWER STONES! The target is 350 POWER STONES for the next BONUSCHAPTER!