With looks between each other assessing the situation, the respective representatives of Kirigakure eventually asked for a recess which would conclude the day's meeting. They wanted time to discuss it between themselves, which was especially crucial when no one man had the power to decide. As such the Konoha delegation were led to an accommodation to rest. They were obviously being monitored, and the fact they were in enemy territory forced them to be vigilant among assassins by trade. But with the help of Uzumaki sealing techniques for detection and the instincts of veteran Shinobi, Katsuro assured them to sleep peacefully with no lookout required. He told them, "they wouldn't dare try anything."
Before they rested, a plan for the next day was quickly formed. They had anticipated that the Mist wouldn't be able to agree to their demands so easily, and instead would try to negotiate with them as best as they could. It was common sense.
By the next morning, the two groups reconvened and immediately picked up where they left off.
"After discussion, we have brought up a few matters. Firstly, our blacksmiths are of an incredible calibre and far too precious to our village for all of them to leave on their own. So we propose that two of our blacksmiths may go to the Leaf village," stated the Kiri group leader. She bit her lip in anticipation. The Kiri blacksmiths were renowned across the shinobi world for their works, despite this, the Mist didn't hold them to the regard they probably should. They were widely respected for their feats, but having been so long since a weapon like the 7 Ninja blades were made, this had greatly reduced. They became more scorned, and less invested in. But Konoha asking for them brought their value back to the front of their minds even if they had forgotten it temporarily. Simply handing them over to the Leaf for even a week would be a sign of weakness and a misplacement of their pride as a Great Village, not to mention they realised it was a security risk. Intel could be leaked.
"Two?" Katsuro raised his eyebrow, "Hm, seems rather low. How about three?"
The Kiri group looked at each other. They still had more points to make and denying the Leaf here may make it more unlikely for those adjustments to be made. Besides, as long the Mist held the majority of their blacksmiths, they would be fine. A couple blacksmiths wouldn't change much, but if they became issues they could quickly go missing. Such was the ruthlessness of the Shinobi world.
"Alright, but we insist on a detail for their protection and guidance in unfamiliar lands. The mist will send a squad for each smith." the kunoichi slowly nodded.
"Also," another Kiri official jumped into the conversation, "we would like to alter the number of years which the Leaf village will be able to take on 55% of Kirgakure's missions and be allowed free movement in the Land of Water's waters to 6 years, at most 7. Those missions are the lifeblood of our village."
"Kirigakure can no longer handle what it could before, but in exchange this trade agreement can be a new source of prosperity for your village. One in which killing and dying isn't the only way to put food on the table. As such, I'm sure you can agree on at least 8, that is the lowest we can go for what you've done." Fugaku said convincingly. After a few moments of looking at the Uchiha man, the Kiri official slowly agreed as he gathered the same from the room.
"Finally," an older looking Mist man started, "our village's financial situation is not very positive currently, as you may be able to tell. Even before the war, our budget had been tight with low funds from the Daimyo, and as you said we cannot do as many missions as we could before so our revenue stream has dwindled. So we request that the Leaf village aid in the development of the port, by contributing 25%, this is for the betterment of the both of us, otherwise with all the other monetary compensation, we will never be able to complete it any time soon."
Kaito, Fugaku and Katsuro looked at each other, all three feigning thoughtful expressions of indecision and worry, making it seem like they were unsure if the Leaf would benefit from this exchange, and instead the Mist, before Kaito replied, smiling,
"We will meet this request considering your accommodation for our other requests. We hope this will reflect a new relationship between our villages going forward." The Kiri group were internally shocked and happy with what had been accomplished. Them accepting it so easily made them wish they had asked for more, but they would take what they could get. The Leaf had already seemed to have been nice before about the initial proposals, and now they had accepted all the adjustments and requests they made to some extent. Even when they had the right as the victors of overwhelming strength to make it worse. It gave a sense that perhaps trust could slowly be built.
The Konoha group had already predicted this would happen, it was natural to expect it. Therefore proposing terms higher than their baseline was a no-brainer, and the final results fell well within the lines they had drawn up beforehand. If the Mist had matched them fully, then it would be even better, but if they couldn't then dropping them slightly would be absolutely fine as well.
Truthfully, many of Kiri's representatives, especially those who expected much harsher terms like the Kaguya clan patriarch. Thus, when formalities had concluded and the agreement was finally drafted up, checked by both sides and signed, they took the opportunity to ask. The Kaguya clan head asked directly, "We have heard your negotiations with Iwagakure proposed much harsher terms, why have you let us off quite… lightly."
Katsuro smiled seeing their thought process, "Kirigakure attacked Konoha, but they also surrendered the earliest, as such we have accounted for that even if it was not your choice to do so. But the main factor was that Iwa and Suna fought against us in the last war, and attacking us in this one broke the treaties they signed then which hadn't even been fully fulfilled. Therefore, they will pay a much higher price."
He scanned around the room, his aura shifting into one of warning. "Konoha will not forgive an error made twice so easily. I hope you will remember that."
With those fairly ominous words, a copy of the documents were handed over to both sides, with only the trade agreements not yet fully finalised as permission was needed from the Daimyos for things outside of their jurisdiction like the ports. Truthfully, representatives of the Daimyos probably should have been involved with the nature of the agreements, but Kiri had not expected them to evolve in such a way. They had expected to pay for reparations and that was it. And Konoha on the other hand, they didn't care too much. The Daimyo was more than satisfied after the huge war they won, and the man had respect for many of the lineages and Shinobi in the village.
It had gotten late by the time the affairs had concluded, therefore the Konoha delegation stayed one more day before leaving the next morning to their farewell. The mission had gone fantastically. They had arrived so quickly with the Flying Raijin, and had finished everything in just 2 days. They went into Kiri with expectations of disrespect, anger and a refusal to bow. And it was certainly there, just hidden. The presence of one particular man who was not shy about imposing his chakra quickly banished those thoughts from their heads as they felt themselves bowing. But luckily, it was sweetened with the actual terms. Now they just had to convince their outraged population who would not see it so clearly with the view of leaders.
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