Kapitel 200: Ch200. Back in Konoha 2
Anko wearily walked through the streets of Konoha on her way to her most favorite Dango shop in the village. She desperately needed some unwinding and there was no better way to accomplish that than getting stuffed with the food of gods.
When she arrived in the village, it was barely lunchtime but now, it was already late evening and Anko could only grumble that visiting several clan heads took her so much time. Alas, if she wanted everything to go smoothly, she needed to deliver a few messages from Tsunade before Hiruzen got his head out of his ass and stopped focusing on Tsunade who was currently unreachable. Anko simply needed to cover all her bases and safeguard her position.
'God, how I hate politics.' Anko mentally whined as she sat at the table near a window and ordered her favorite flavors of Dango before starting to remember her tiring day.
Her very first visit was to Shikaku Nara. This was not a coincidence. Tsunade made sure to choose who to visit first properly.
Shikaku Nara seemed to be deep within the Hokage's backside. He was the Jonin Commander and that meant something. He was one of the most trusted aides of the Hokage in the shinobi matters. Hence, Anko was really surprised when Tsunade wanted her to visit the man first.
Now, that meeting shook Anko to her core. Tsunade didn't explain much about clans but the letter she handed over to Shikaku must have requested an explanation for her if the annoyed and half-whining look the half-asleep man shot her was any indication.
And so, Anko got to know exactly how deep the politics in Konoha reached.
The position of the Jonin Commander was the dream of many ninjas in the village. Tough luck though, since as it appears, only a Nara could ever be appointed as such. The Hokage only made a show of the appointment to keep the masses dreaming as a motivation for improvement.
'Really, how Nara-ish to make a backroom deal with the First Hokage to safeguard a good, well-paying job where the most required thing is good strategic thinking. It actually makes a whole lot of sense considering the job is very easy-going in times of peace. A perfect place for napping the day off while being as important as it gets.' Anko snickered.
The actual damn thing was apparently written in the more obscure laws of the village. A very serious set of requirements had to be met for a non-Nara to become a Jonin Commander, one of which would be no available Nara of jonin level strength smart enough to fill the position. Hence, no matter what Hiruzen did, he HAD TO appoint Shikaku into the position and thus, being a Jonin Commander didn't really show that the Hokage trusted you. Apparently, that was the whole reason why Danzo didn't get the job.
Because of these backroom deals with Hashirama Senju, however, the Nara clan was an ally of the Senju Clan. The clan head of the Senju clan requested the Nara clan to support Anko? Shikaku simply had to do so to honor the alliance.
A good thing that Naras didn't bother with politics beyond what was necessary because they found them boring. The danger of being backstabbed by a Nara or them not honoring an alliance was almost nil.
With the Nara clan on board, Anko had an easy time persuading the Akimichi clan. If instant agreement the second they got to know the stance of the Nara clan and an invitation to dinner could even be called 'persuading'.
Anko had to shake her head in amusement at the Akimichi clan. Maybe if she pulled her head out of her ass when she was younger and approached one of these 'big-boned' people instead of feeling pity for herself, she would actually find real friends.
The Yamanaka clan head also easily agreed to give his support to her. Not like the man had any other choice since both the Akimichi and Nara clans already made their stance clear. The Yamanakas were the most neutral clan in the list of people Anko had to approach but Tsunade showed her cunning by ordering Anko to deal with Naras and Akimichis first. Now, if Inoichi did something different, it could potentially make his clan stand against his long-time allies in the village which wouldn't be good for him or the clan. Neutral or not, his side was chosen for him before Anko even knocked on his door.
And that led Anko's mind to reminisce about her last visit. The Hyuuga clan.
Yes, much to her eternal horror, it was these white-eyed assholes who were the closest supporters of the Senju clan. Or... at the very least, who had to lose the most if they didn't support the Senju clan.
Apparently, the Hyuuga clan businesses were very dependent on the Senju clan businesses. In short, the Hyuuga clan patriarch looked almost constipated after Tsunade pulled this card on him. Knowing how legendary their arguments in the council room were during the Third Ninja war... Anko could see that the man didn't expect Tsunade to know about how much influence she had over him and his clan. After all, even if the Senju clan owned the businesses supporting their own, Tsunade did not attend to the day-to-day matters and never showed any knowledge or interest in them. At best, she received her cut and let the businesses run themselves.
Anko could see the gears in Hiashi's head running and the utter bewilderment that Tsunade actually knew something about her family finances other than spending the seemingly unending supply of money flowing into her family accounts. The man sat motionless opposite Anko, staring in shock at the letter from Tsunade for ten whole minutes after reading it.
Naturally, it wouldn't do for assholes to deal with easy problems the easy way. Even someone like Anko, someone hopeless in economy and running of a clan, knew the Hyuugas had no other choice than to give their full support behind Tsunade on her whim. The second Hiashi spotted the special seal of the Senju clan head on the letter, it was as good as an order from Tsunade, someone who could ruin many of their businesses. It wasn't even that Tsunade asked much of the Hyuuga clan. Just show of support which would essentially cost them nothing.
So... what did the cold-faced bastard do?
He naturally called a meeting of Elders and dragged Anko straight into it! An issue that could be resolved in twenty minutes tops, and that was when Anko accounted for Hiashi's ten minutes long shocked state, was now stretched to three hours of debating between elderly men... yeah, Anko had had enough of living by the time she left the Hyuuga Compound with a ringing headache.
Is it any wonder she needed her daily dose of Dango thrice over after such a nightmare?
Worse yet... 'I will have to babysit the white-eyed princess for their support? How the heck did that happen!? Shit, Lady Tsunade will be so disappointed in me for letting them have their way and get compensation for her demands.' Anko mentally whined. She knew that promising something in return for their support would show weakness they would no doubt try to exploit later but she was just so damn tired of all the pointless talking.
In hindsight, she fell right into that trap. She should have refused to attend and demanded an answer from Hiashi. Even giving him time to consider it would be a nice power move, showing she had everything under control. It wasn't like the Hyuuga clan could refuse. But no... she just had to do the stupid thing and let them challenge her patience. A battle, she disgracefully lost and promised to train young Hinata in return for their support.
It was then that a commotion outside the Dango shop caught Anko's attention. Naruto Uzumaki was sitting on the ground with an angry shopkeeper hurling insults at the boy before huffily turning on his heel and stomping his way back to his shop.
Shrugging, Anko started tiredly munching on her Dango without any real excitement.
'Mah, the brat endured years of ridicule, he can endure two more days.'
Kapitel 201: Ch201. Shocking Council Meeting
"Any idea why this meeting was called, Hiruzen?" Danzo asked in his emotionless tone but an underlying curiosity was unmistakable in his eye. Every clan head had a right to call for a council meeting if they had a serious issue to be discussed. Such a call, however, needed the approval of two more clan heads since it was not the Hokage calling it. This rule was actually a nice little way to get around the Hokage.
"I have no idea, my friend." Hiruzen answered as he walked towards the council chambers without a worry. Hiruzen knew the laws of Konoha by heart and as such, he was aware that whatever would be discussed would not be overly important in the grand scheme of things. While the clan heads could bypass him in this way, they would still need his approval for any major change. "My guess is either some dispute between clans or an announcement of a new business venture of the Nara clan." Hiruzen shrugged.
Danzo, though, was very nonplussed by that answer. The whole problem was that it was the Nara clan calling for the meeting. The Nara clan never did things like that. Not once since the founding of Konoha. 'Announcement of a business venture my ass.' Danzo mentally grumbled. 'The whole clan is so lazy they would wait however long until the next scheduled council meeting to announce something like that.' He rolled his eyes, not even deeming it necessary to mentally comment about the stupid idea of the Nara clan being in a dispute with someone else.
It would take a murder or kidnapping of their clansman to get them motivated enough to move their asses. Danzo knew. After all, that was the reason why he purposefully avoided recruiting any Nara into his ROOT. He had enough problems without the motivated Nara clan on his ass. No amount of intelligence and strategic brilliance was worth that.
Entering the council chamber, both Danzo and Hokage were greeted by the entire council already seated. Shikaku Nara, the man who called the meeting, was slouching in his seat with droopy eyes, around him Inoichi Yamanaka and Choza Akimichi, the two clan heads who granted their approval for the meeting. Around them were the clan heads of the Hyuuga, Aburame, Inuzuka, and Uchiha clans.
It pained Hiruzen to see that sorry state.
At the start, there were no less than seventeen clans in Konoha, all with a healthy population. Now? Most clan seats on the shinobi side of the council were empty. Some, like Senju, out of choice, others, like Kurama, out of necessity. While the Senju clan had only one member and thus wouldn't normally qualify for the council seat by normal rules, they were rich, and most importantly, a founding clan. Tsunade could sit on the council if she so wished.
The Kurama clan, however, wasn't nearly as important and because of their abysmal numbers in recent times, their privilege to sit on the council was lost. But the Kurama clan was only the most recent one to lose this privilege. There were Hatake, Mitarashi, Sarutobi, and many other clans that didn't fulfill the membership quota to sit on the shinobi council.
As such, from the initial seventeen, only seven clan heads now sat on the shinobi council. A pitiful state, really.
The civilian side had ten members. Five seats were taken by rich merchants entrenched in very important business fields that provided the village with weapons, food, and other necessities. These seats were quasi-hereditary since the merchants usually gave the seat alongside their business to their progeny when they retired. The next five seats were voted in by the people of Konoha.
Enlarging the civilian council was one of the follies Hiruzen agreed on to lighten his burden during the third war. At first, it was only five seats with the important merchants but now... now Hiruzen actually had a hard time finding a proper excuse to dismiss the five voted-in civilian members.
It certainly was not a fun time, having ten civilians and only seven shinobi on the council.
Not when the last set of seats belonged to the Elders, Homura Mitokado, Koharu Utatane, and Shimura Danzo. That was yet another can of worms that usually gave Hiruzen a headache. The elders' support was very fickle. On one issue, they could support the shinobi council, on another the civilian one. Thankfully, the Elders were quite limited in their influence.
And lastly, there was him, Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Hokage. Twenty-one people in total if one didn't count all the ANBU skulking around the shadows in the room.
'So then... what is she doing here?' Hiruzen's eyes trailed towards the cheerfully humming Anko Mitarashi sitting in a guest seat as she waited for the start of the session and suddenly, Hiruzen no longer felt all that worry-free about this meeting.
...
The council meeting started and Anko restlessly waited through all the inane procedures, all the meaningless talks, and making sure everybody was present despite clearly seeing nobody missing. Yup, she really didn't like politics and the formal procedures that needed to be followed. She was dying of boredom despite the patience brutally instilled in her by Orochimaru.
Finally, thirty minutes after the start, Shikaku was given the word. Anko watched the man lift his head from the table and confusedly look around after Choza nudged him before the gears in Shikaku's head started working as he lethargically stood up.
"I called this meeting on the insistence of my clan's long-time allies, the Senju clan." Shikaku slowly let out in a measured drawl that gave everybody ample time to realize why Anko was present. At least, the ninjas did while the voted-in civilians were as clueless as it gets. Anko straightened her back, not due to the clueless and disgruntled glances from the Elders and the Hokage, but due to what was coming next. "The Senju clan asked me to present a case of custody for one, Uzumaki Naruto, to the Senju clan because of his heritage as a scion of the Uzumaki clan and his blood ties to Tsunade Senju through her grandmother, Mito Uzumaki."
The second Shikaku stopped talking and flopped back into his chair, a deafening silence engulfed the room. Not even the ANBU guards dared to breathe after hearing that.
The topic of custody of Naruto Uzumaki was a frequent one a few years back. The clan heads wanted a boy, either to strengthen their clans or simply to give him a home. Even the ever-isolationist Aburame clan tried to gain custody of him, if only because they knew the burden the boy carried. Alas, Hiruzen Sarutobi was the Hokage, and with the help of his Elders and using the hatred the civilian council had for the boy, he made damn sure to block any and all such proposals.
Hiruzen was blindsided by this. He spent the last few days trying to figure out Tsunade's angle. He knew her. She would not be appeased so easily. At the very least, the second she got to know about her birthright, he expected her to storm her way into Konoha and try to yell his brain out while also causing an unhealthy amount of collateral damage to vent her frustration. This... calm and collected letter with a working threat and set of reasonable demands was so far out of his apprentice's modus operandi, Hiruzen was really worried.
'She baited me.' Hiruzen understood. 'She made me waste time on her knowledge of the Konoha Creation Act while...' His eyes coldly stared at Anko Mitarashi, the viper who slithered under his feet without him noticing.
Hiruzen was not stupid. He knew well that Tsunade was the only one who could take care of Naruto even if he disapproved. They shared blood and that meant something. That was yet another reason why her absence in the village didn't bother him much. Unless she was in the village, she couldn't get custody.
But now...
Anko watched with an expertly hidden glee as the Hokage's eyes swept through his fellow councilmen and his lips set in a concerned frown. She felt proud of herself for pulling this off. Especially since it was so obvious neither of the Elders knew what was going to happen in the meeting.
'Maybe this manipulation and blackmail stuff is not all that bad. The process is dull and boring but the result is sweet!' Anko inwardly grinned while outwardly she projected a sweet innocent smile that fooled nobody.
She watched as Hiruzen sat in his seat, most likely mulling over the situation and what he could do to prevent it but in the end, the old man simply sighed and called for a vote.
And so, the council voted.
The five civilians from the important merchant families voted for giving custody to the Senju Clan. Tsunade had far too much blackmail on them for them to not give their vote in her favor.
As expected, the Hyuuga, Yamanaka, Nara, Akimichi, and surprisingly even the Aburame clans voted in the Senju clan's favor.
But the Hokage, the elders Homura and Koharu, the remaining five voted-in civilians, the Uchiha, and Inuzuka clans voted against the proposition.
Only Danzo abstained with a small knowing and calculating smirk.
Which meant it was a tie. Ten versus ten with one neutral. Oh, Anko knew why Danzo abstained. He did the math after careful observation of the room. Now that it was a tie, the vote would be postponed and that would give him a chance. He would probably try to approach her and scout out what he could get by supporting her. According to Rei and Tsunade, the man always wanted the jinchuuriki in his grasp.
'Unfortunately for the cyclops wannabe, Tsunade put the matter into the most dependable hands in the entire Konoha.' Anko amusedly observed the relieved looks on Hiruzen's face.
Shikaku stood up and actually smiled. "Naruto Uzumaki is a civilian with a clan heritage. He is not yet a shinobi of the village, hence the votes of the Elders hold no value according to the laws of the village. As expected of Elder Shimura, you know our laws by heart." Shikaku said in a voice laced with amusement as Koharu and Homura flushed, Danzo's smirk froze, and Hiruzen's pupils dilated. "As such, the vote is eight to ten in favor of the proposition. Since the child is not yet a shinobi, the Hokage can not overrule this." Shikaku glanced at Hiruzen before turning towards Anko, "Congratulations, Anko Mitarashi. Your and your clan's guardianship of Naruto Uzumaki was approved."
Anko simply hummed and comfortably leaned back into her chair as the screaming contest started as the unhappy civilians realized that the Snake Whore, as they called her, was the only 'member' of the Senju clan present in the village.
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