I and Raya's squad approached the land behind Ichiraku. Oh, right, Raya was a genin captain from the fall legion. And her squad had been assigned as my security detail. I was not sure how to feel about that. As a man, I know it is stupid. Especially in such a wartorn world. But my father raised me right. Open doors for them, lift their luggage, and protect them from harm. I didn't think girls were weak at all; I was just raised that way. And since the team was from my clan. I had an instinctive urge to protect them.
We were surveying the land around the Ichiraku that I saw last time.
There were 4 of them, a full squad, all just a year younger than me. Raya, Nene, Emi, and Hina. They were Haruto's idea. As we moved towards becoming a proper clan, the head roaming around with no security was not an option anymore. Especially with the foreign shinobi presence in the village. I was way stronger than they were. At most, they would serve as an early warning or a delay. I wanted to argue, but Souta had used the Hokage as an example. Even he has bodyguards.
For a while, I had thought that there was something to it when the four of them showed a huge crush on me. But he assured me it was just a chance.
It brought tears to my eyes. They were talking back now. Oh, how fast they grow. After the genin exams, nothing had changed in our operations except that now we could take D-ranks on our own. Genins could theoretically do C ranks, but I didn't want them fighting without proper protection. So I had instructed them not to pick those. Neither did the village. You can never have enough tags. I was under strict orders from the Hokage not to lose any of them to a stupid mission. This meant no missions outside the Land of Fire for us. And only the lowest risk C ranks.
"So, Kurosawa-sama, how do you like it?" The man, Masaru, spoke. He was introduced to me by Murata from the weapon shop. Saying he was an excellent Real estate agent. "I like it. But you understand our position, correct?" I confirmed. It was simple, really. The agent will buy up all the land around here. Including the few shops and houses. And then over the years, he will sell it all to us at an already decided premium. I planned to buy three streets right behind the market Street of Ichiraku. I wanted to shift the clan here.
The plan was solid. A main house and some adjoining houses with a training ground and proper workshop as clan properties in the inner sanctum. While the houses surrounding them will be for individuals. Yeah, they were not just rewards now but needs. Children here grow too fast. And several romances were already in the air. By the time they all turned legal at 16. They will need personal space. Our current arrangement of dormitory bunking in a few houses around, the main one won't work for long.
Speaking of which, I saw Daichi and Sayo exit a Dango shop near Ichiraku. Great, more complicated feelings. My face scrunched up as I saw them leave.
"Alright then, I will come to your compound to finalize the details tomorrow," Masaru spoke, rolling up the map. "Thank you for your patronage, clan head sama." He bowed as I nodded to him. "Very well, Masaru-san, I had roped this guy in for long-term cooperation. I wanted someone neutral to buy and hold these properties. While this guy wanted to enter construction with Real estate. An emerging clan looking to build its clan grounds was the perfect long-term deal for decent money and reputation for him.
We will be rich, but wealth accumulation takes time. We could have bought more land where we were. It was cheaper due to the slum presence. Plus, now we were emotionally attached to those properties. I was making this move, disregarding a lot of advice from a lot of people.
But I was adamant. I was not risking my clan. I agreed to maintain those properties as an outpost. But no way in hell I was giving up my safe zone called Ichiraku. As I mentioned before. The place had more plot armor than the Hokage tower.
"Lord Ren, do you not like Sayo and Daichi being together?"
Nene's question woke me from my thoughts. "Perhaps, do you l-like Sayo?" she stuttered.
"What! No!" These little ones had too much interest in my love life. Especially these four. Apparently, Haruto had forgotten to mention that I was also their role model and crush. Yeah, being the powerful clan head and their savior had its perks. But I decided to share a bit anyway. I needed a solution to my problem.
"Yes, I like her. But not romantically. My feelings are complicated because Daichi was easily my most trusted subordinate. No, that's incorrect. I trust you all equally. What I mean is, I also treat him as a friend. The rest of you are more like subordinates I have to care for. Even all other commanders behave that way. Daichi is a subordinate and a friend. He follows orders and gives respect. But he also has his own ideas that he gives me. On the other hand, And Sayo is even closer to me. Perhaps because my focus was fuinjustu and so was hers, we had spent a lot of time together. I have come to see her as my stupid little sister whom I have to guide. You see the problem now, don't you?"
"Yeah, your best friend and your sister." Emi nodded.
"Yeah, I'm not sure that when they become official, I should pat his back and give a treat for being the first of my friends to get a girlfriend or smash his face in for getting Sayo. Both seem appropriate reactions that I wish to take."
We all fell silent. Yeah, emotional politics wasn't much fun either.
"You know, " Emi began. "You could give him personal training sessions as a reward." I tilted my head to the side. "How does that help?"
"You could beat him up legitimately all you want. And as long as you truly give him guidance. It will be a positive gift from you to him. This way you can do both!"
I wanted to say that isn't that, no different than just outright beating him up. But I saw her point and grinned. "It does not sound like a bad idea at all!"
Emiko had trained Emi. I guess we had another Gremlin on our hands now. I decided to treat them to Ichiraku since we were already here.
Oh, right, the exhibition matches had been forgone for some reason. Now the final round will double as a selection and exhibition rolled in one. But that was a week's time away. The Hokage had given time to the teams for recovery.
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