SHINASUI'S POINT OF VIEW
I stood waiting at the gates of Konoha along with the usual guards that were there. I was dressed presentably in a nice mobile emerald kimono style dress, a thick black fashionable coat with half of my hair up and the other down my back. I put on a bit of makeup and made sure I smelled nice in the presence of the samurai prince. I wasn't doing this because I was interested in getting with him, but I had to dress for the occasion according to my mother. I really was not looking forward to this.
I watched as a group of five or so men walked towards the village and made their way to me, all except one were in samurai armor. They were all older, in their thirties or forties except for one man. He was very tall, taller than most of the men here in Konoha...most likely six foot six. He had long navy blue hair that was so dark it looked black. It was in a low ponytail with a few stray hairs in his face. He had a sharp chiseled jawline and a mature face, his eyes were an intense electric green that made me feel like he was something more than just the son of a samurai. He wore expensive silk garb that allowed his defined chest to show. He was handsome, I'd give him that...but I have no interest. Not after Neji. Not after my heart has been ripped out.
I bowed respectfully with a forced smile on my rose petal painted lips. My silver hair poured down my back like a shimmering waterfall, my pastel skin only accented my bright violet eyes with wisps of lilac and pink. The man looked at me with his stern lips parted, his bright green eyes opening wide.
"Welcome to the Village Hidden in the Leaves. My name is Shinasui Hatake, daughter of the Fifth Hokage. I am here to assist you during your stay in Konoha." I spoke with a bright fake smile on my features. He openly looked at me like a sheltered child would a sunset for the first time.
"I didn't know I was in the presence of a beautiful princess." I really wanted to roll my eyes.
"I-ah- wouldn't say princess. Just an ordinary citizen." I smiled forcefully. He have me a flirtatious half smile. Just my luck...a boy that won't leave a woman alone.
"Well it looks to me like there's nothing just ordinary about you." Well you're not wrong. I wanted to say.
"My name is Takeda Miyamoto, son of Hattori Miyamoto. It is an absolute pleasure to meet you darling."
"Lord Takeda, it is best we get out of the cold and into our temporary residence." A samurai guard spoke. He sounded annoyed with his flirtatious behavior. I had a feeling Takeda was usually a womanizer like Grandpa Jiraiya. Takeda nodded before looking up at me with a crooked smile.
"Lady Shinasui, would you please direct us where we will be staying?" I nodded.
"Of course Lord Takeda. Follow me." I heard him whisper behind me to his guards.
"When I heard the Hokage had a daughter, I had no idea she would be this beautiful." I smiled slightly and looked at my feet.
"Don't get too carried away my Lord. Remember why you are here. Remember your mission." One guard said.
"She'll be perfect my Lord." I scrunched up my eyebrows without letting them know I heard them.
I wonder what they mean...but whatever it is...I feel like I've seen this before. Whatever this is...it's probably not good...
~~
"Welcome to the Hidden Leaf Village! Are you enjoying your stay so far?" Yumi asked cheerfully to Takeda and his posse. Takeda nodded and gestured to me by his side.
"This wonderful young lady has been more than generous with her time with us." He gave me a smile but within it held something more. I felt a little suspicious for some reason. My gut was telling me something was off.
"Oh he is so sweet!" Yumi gushed as she looked between us with a smile. A little girl with slick plum hair and a few missing baby teeth ran to Yumi's legs with a giggle. Yumi placed a hand on her slightly round belly and the other on the girls head.
"Mikoto settle down now. Don't be rude to our guest." Itachi's little girl was too cute.
"Sorry..." She quietly said. Takeda took a long look at the Uchiha symbol on both of the girl's clothing and narrowed his eyes. Takeda would be staying at the Hokage Mansion along with his guards...which means I would have to as well...*sigh*...
"I don't mind. Children are lovely." Mikoto was about eight years old, two years older than Sasuke's daughter. She was very smart like Itachi but had a temper like her Uncle, that's for sure. I'm told by my mom that Mikoto has the same eyes and smile as her grandmother, which is the woman she's named after.
"Ahh you must be Lord Takeda Miyamoto. I am Itachi Uchiha, the second in command here. The Hokage is preparing for the meeting. Please make yourself comfortable." Takeda nodded.
"Of course. Thank you. Princess, why don't you stay and talk to me? To keep me company of course." Itachi looked over at me and I nodded, thinking nothing of it.
"Sure." Itachi, Yumi, and Mikoto had left...leaving me alone with Takeda and his guards. Takeda's long navy hair brushed past his shoulders as he analyzed me. He looked me up and down while nibbling on a fingernail.
"Leave us." Takeda commanded. The guards had left, just leaving us two. He leaned forward in his cushioned chair, interested.
"So tell me Princess, who are you and what do you do here?" I blinked.
"Well, I am the daughter of Minako Uzumaki and Kakashi Hatake. I am a jonin and also a disciple of a very incredible Konoha ninja. What I do here is I participate in defending the Land of Fire and seek to promote peace in the world." He was thoughtful for a minute as his electric green eyes looked into mine.
"I see. So you're a ninja?" I nodded. He narrowed his eyes.
"Hmm... It's interesting that they'd give a woman so much power here." He paused. I scrunched up my nose in distaste. What an awful comment...I don't care if you're royalty or not...disrespecting women is a big no in my book.
"Well of course. The women in this village are incredibly powerful. My mother being the strongest of them all. We all have sacrificed to make this village a better place."
"So you must have sacrificed a lot for this village." I gave a light halfhearted chuckle.
"Not enough. Not compared to what others have done." He smiled, a hint of wickedness in it.
"One day that time will come."
"What-"
"Lady Shinasui, Lord Takeda, Lady Hokage is ready to discuss now."
"Lady Hokage...?" I heard Takeda whisper under his breath. He must have thought my father was the Hokage. I smirked. He's in for a rude awakening. We all filed in, an extra chair positioned for Takeda to sit. We sat in our respected seats; I was right next to Naruto. He gave me a cheesy grin.
"Hey sis whats with the get up?" I gave him a sour look before rolling my eyes.
"You know exactly why I have to dress all lame. Mom wants to 'impress our guest'. It's just another one of her ploys to get me in the dating field." Naruto sighed. His big blue eyes held sympathy and compassion. For some reason, whenever Mom looked into Naruto's eyes, she saw something more...perhaps his father.
"Well I know of one guy who'd love to go out on a date." I was curious.
"Who-?" Before Naruto could respond (or I could finish my sentence) I was interrupted.
"Are we all here? Good we may proceed. Lady Hokage..." Itachi spoke. We all sat and looked at my mother who stood.
"Welcome Lord Takeda...it is an honor to have you in our village." I could see behind my mother's smile that she was unhappy. I wasn't the only one detecting something off. My father looked at me with a single weary eye. I wonder if something was going on that I didn't understand. Itachi gave me the same look...as if they are all worried about me being close to this guy. Takeda stood at the oppose side of the table and bowed at the waist.
"Thank you. Your villagers are very hospitable. Before we get this meeting started...we would like to present you with a gift." Takeda's guard took out a gray velvet pouch and delivered it to my mother with a bow. Mom opened up the pouch to see a steel ring inside with the kanji for peace written there.
"This ring will adjust to the one who wears it. It is made from the steel mines that we make our infamous blades from." Mom placed the ring on her right hand, smiled, and bowed in respect.
"Thank you for this wonderful gift." My mother directed him to sit and he complied, my mother doing the same. The meeting ensued just like any other foreign diplomatic caucus...boring political stuff and whatnot. I could tell Naruto was getting bored and so Sakura was pinching him under the table to keep him awake. Sasuke and Itachi seemed to be having a silent conversation the entire time and Dad looked warily between mom and I. Something must have been on his mind about this Lord Takeda guy...perhaps the information they found on him was not something pleasant. I began to pay attention to what was said.
"Historically, the Hidden Leaf Village and Land of Samurai have not gotten along despite the Land of Iron being neutral. I have come to understand that the Land of Samurai is a small yet powerful community within the Land of Iron that produces many missionaries and assassins. While my grandfather, the Second Hokage was in power, there was a battle between the two lands that caused hundreds to lose their lives...similarly enough, there have been several Konoha Ninjas over the past fifty years that have gone missing in the Land of Samurai. Lord Takeda, how do we know we can trust you?" Takeda gave a sly shrug with a smirk.
"I could say the same thing to you Lady Hokage. The Hidden Leaf ninja have been trespassing on our land for years, and like any nation would do to criminals we imprisoned them for their crime. You see the Land of Iron has been weak and if it wasn't for my father's kingdom, the entire country would be nothing. We've had to be strong in order to prove our worth in a world run by shinobi." My mother was trying to mask her annoyance. She was not liking where this conversation was going.
"I have a report that a genin squad has gone missing within your country while on a mission to deliver a letter. Would you know anything about that?" Takeda narrowed his eyes.
"Are you accusing me of something Lady Hokage?" My father and Itachi were immediately on the defensive, I could see it in their eyes. My mother gave him a steely glare, one that would have scared me to death if directed at me.
"Nothing at all...I merely request information." Takeda reclined in his chair.
"Perhaps I know of Leaf Ninja being arrested for committing crimes...but that is not the reason why we, the Land of Samurai have decided to strike a treaty with you." Mom looked up along with Naruto and Sasuke. For some reason...I felt like I have seen this before...perhaps in a thought or...
...a dream. I has a dream this situation...something bad is about to happen and I just can't remember what it was.
"We understand that your goal as Hokage is to strive for peace...is it not?" My mother narrowed her eyes and nodded.
"We have had enough criminals from this village that my father was insistent on going to war with this village. Hundreds, if not thousands would die. However, I have another idea." My mom was on edge along with the rest of the room. The air was heavy and the atmosphere was thick. The tension could be cut with a knife.
"You can have your clean record of peace for the price of goods and services. The area we live in is cold and is difficult for us to grow much of anything. If your village supplies ours with food and supplies, we will decriminalize Konoha access into the country and will not move on to battle." My mom turned to Shikamaru for a moment. Shikamaru wrote something down on a notepad before giving it to mom and Itachi. They both read it before nodding.
"We will accept this along with another term."
"Go on." Takeda looked amused.
"I want every person from the Land of Fire to be released to me along with all of their records." Takeda laughed for a short minute.
"You see I am all about equal trade. However...you are offering us two things...food and supplies. We are giving you peace and decriminalized access to our country. By adding one more thing on our side, we much add another thing to yours."
"So what else is it you want." Takeda gave my mother a wicked grin and suddenly my heart was pounding in my chest. I gripped Naruto's hand tightly as the pain in my chest grew. I've seen this before.
"I want to make Shinasui my bride."
"WHAT!?!" Naruto, Mom, Dad, and I all said at once. My mother's teeth were gritted.
"ABSOLUTELY NOT! I WILL NOT BE SELLING OFF MY DAUGHTER FOR YOUR AMUSEMENT!! SHE IS NOT A POLITICAL TOOL!" Dad yelled. Mom was furious.
"How dare you bring my child into this." Her eyes gleamed red with fury, same with Naruto.
"My sister is a human being that will walk and choose her own path! You...you make me sick!!" Naruto gritted. I squeezed his hand to calm him down. I looked in a panic between my family members.
"Well in that case then all 87 Konoha residents will never see their families ever again...thanks to the selfish nature of the Fifth Hokage of the Leaf. I'll be sure to notify them myself that their own Kage rejected an opportunity to help them.
"Why you-!" I stood up, a shadow casting across my face. The room went silent, waiting for my response. A tear lulled down my cheek before dripping onto the polished wooden meeting table.
Neji...Neji...maybe you'll think of me as a hero...
My life will never have happiness without Neji...I will never know love...so I mind as well do with myself something to help others.
"I'll go with you."
"What?!" A collective gasp erupted from the room. Takeda looked surprised for a split second before putting on his infamous smirk.
"Wise choice."
"Shinasui...please!" My mother begged, her voice cracking. I gave her a look, along with my father to show my resolve. My brother stared at me with worry and wonder.
"There are people that are relying on me. It is the least I could do to save the people of Konoha. I do not deserve the title of Shinobi if I'm not willing to sacrifice. You taught me that yourself mom that a true shinobi knows sacrifice." A single tear rolled down her cheek before Dad wiped it away. I turned to Takeda to look him in his electric green eyes.
"Do not mistake my decision for my country for love. I will never love you." I growled. Naruto narrowed his cerulean eyes before looking at Sasuke and Sakura to see a forlorn look on their faces as well.
"Fine, fine, suit yourself princess." He shrugged.
"It's settled then. By taking Shinasui as my bride, you will take all of your people back along with their records." Mom looked reluctant to sign the paper and her allies in the room didn't want her to make the deal. She looked up at me, water in her eyes before seeing me smile.
"It'll be alright." I said to her. She pulled herself together and sealed my fate away in black ink.
The deal had been made.