Naruto Naruto Moeyouden - Preview

[Daneel Rush]

The silliness, it continues. But first, some world-building!

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Excerpt from “Record of Primordial and Forgotten Matters”, Volume 3
By Higashiyama Yuriyo & Shionzaki Sakuya
First Published on 26 AT (After Tamamo)

It is said that, one day, Inari-ōkami-sama descended to mortal lands in wander. Once there, he watched the humans favored by the one of utmost radiance, Amaterasu-ōmikami, and he saw their deeds and partook of their feelings, and he thought them both beautiful and frightening. He then returned to the Most High Celestial Plains, where he sought the most gifted and beautiful one of the sun.

“Most August Shining Heaven,” he greeted. “I come from the lands of the mortals, where I have seen wondrous and fearsome things.”

The great and wise wandering god spoke at length of Amaterasu-sama’s beloved humans, and of the great and terrible things they had done and could do. He spoke with much delight of the expanse of their emotions and of the breadth of their intellect and of their growing technology. His visage reflected much excitement as he mused of what they could become, and of their limitless potential. And he gave much praise to the serene and radiant goddess who blessed humanity with the gift of existence.

“Yet,” the supreme goddess mused. “You do not love them.”

“I love them not,” Inari-sama admitted. “Because they are not of me.”

The celebrant god thus declared that he would create a race of intelligent mortals to match the humans born from the will of the August Shining Heaven. And Amaterasu-sama saw the good of this.

“I will permit this,” she said. “If you make it so that your people and the humans I love can mingle and breed.”

“I will make it so, even if I cannot fathom the thoughts of your august brilliance,” declared the many-tailed god.

The sun goddess voiced her wishes thus.

“I wish for your people and my people to love each other and to despise each other, to trust each other and to betray each other; to breed together and to tear the other apart. I wish for them to learn from each other and to take from each other as well; to live in peace with each other and to engage in war as well. For while the human male may partake of the human female, and the human female may partake of the human male, I do not wish for my beloved people to look at nothing else but each other. So, give your people shape and intellect, Inari, for the sake of my people.”

“Give my humans lovers, give my humans friends. Give them hated enemies and rivals, teachers and students, soulmates and betrayers, supporters and villains. For humanity needs both allies and enemies to grow in power and wisdom without destroying itself.”

With the blessing of the radiant goddess, Inari departed to his grandest shrine, but he carried with himself deep outrage and a wish for mischief, for he did not wish for his people to exist solely for the sake of the people of the sun, and rebellion is his nature. Securing himself in his deepest, most secluded abode, Inari-sama took the form of the many-tailed fox, for it is the shape he favors the most, although the reason for this he does not understand to this day.

It was with much impatience that the beloved god crafted his beloved people, for he is not like the cautious and meticulous sun. He gifted his people with long lives and great beauty, all this in defiance of the august star that loves humans. And the power of Creation grew within his body, making his womb grow mightily and causing our cherished father much pain. Yet Inari-sama laughed at this pain, as it is his nature, and brought his beloved people into existence, granting them their noble names and their purpose as they were born. They were born in pairs—male and female, brother and sister, so that they would love each other and multiply.

The first pair he bathed in the light of the August Shining Heaven, and they received the sun’s blessing and the power of Creation to build glorious nations and rule over mortals like gods. And to these radiant children he gave the noble names of Shinkirou and Amakusa.

The second pair he denied the light of Heaven, and bathed them instead in the foul Whispers of Oblivion, for they were to make the principle of Nothingness theirs and stand vigilant at the edge of the Void. To this, his second pair of children, he gave the noble names of Kuromiya and Kurosaki.

To the third pair he sang many lullabies as they were born, and he sang of the ways of the planet and how to direct its will, for they were to craft many songs to bring forth things both beautiful and terrible. And to these children he gave the noble names of Utagahama and Kitashimauta.

Before giving birth to the fourth pair, Inari-sama traveled to the top of the tallest mountain, and the first thing those children saw was the vastness of the mortal world presented to them by their divine progenitor, for he wanted them to feel awe before its immensity and the longing to make it their own. To these children he gave the noble names of Ishiyama and Yamashina.

The fifth pair was born by the edge of the ocean, and their bodies were cleansed with salt water. Gazing at the vast horizon where the sea met the endless sky, they marveled at its beauty and blossomed with the wish to protect all Existence. These children received noble names as well. Their names were Tsutsumi and Tamamo.

The sixth pair came into live inside a deep forest. They slept in a cradle of leaves and their bodies were perfumed by the scent of a million flowers. They thought themselves blessed and dreamed of sharing this blessing with the entire world. They received the noble names of Matsunokiand Hanazono.

By the time of the seventh pair, Inari-sama was already exhausted, and the children were born without a pulse. He cried for help, and countless beings offered their lives to him. The stillborn were bathed in the blood of many sacrifices, and the souls of the dead became their first heartbeats. And it is because of this that the souls of the departed would forever be their strength and the strength of their descendants. And their noble names were Ryouun and Reien.

After the seventh pair was born, Inari-sama rested. But it is not his nature to delay things, and thus he rested only for one day and one night. And it is for this reason, we say, that those descended from the last five pairs lack the prowess of those who inherited the blood of their elder brothers and sisters.

The eighth pair was purified with flame, and in its incandescent depths they saw the shadow of the very first flame from which all Destruction was born. And they received the noble names of Senkagahara and Shiranui.

The ninth pair he cleansed with the pristine water at a river’s birthplace. In its purity, their unknowing eyes saw the natural form of all things. And their noble names were Shimizudani and Nagakawa.

The tenth pair was born in the midst of a thunderstorm, and in the mighty flashes of the radiant spears from the sky they saw the evanescent nature of all things. To them Inari-sama gave the noble names of Fukuraibashi and Ikazuchitaira.

The eleventh pair he exposed to the winds from eight directions, and in their whispers from many different lands they learned of the world and its natural state of flux. And to them Inari-sama gave the noble names of Konparu and Amatsukaze.

In the end, Inari-sama returned to his grand shrine, and there he gave birth to a twelfth pair. And the subtle hums of the ever-changing earth under their feet were both their teachers and their lullabies. To this twelfth pair Inari-sama gave the noble names of Kamiedo and Tsuchikado.

And these twenty-four he called kitsune, for they were foxes before being human, and he made it so that their children would be foxes, and that these foxes could breed with foxes not born of the twenty-four. And as per the August Shining Heaven’s condition, he made it so that his kitsune could also breed with humans, although not even he could tell what would be born from such a union. And to this day, it is only those foxes carrying the lineage of the original twenty-four that may live long enough to become kitsune, for Inari-sama in his selfishness and wisdom did not wish for the numbers of his people to match the numbers of humans.

And this is the tale of the birth of the great race of fox youkai. May there be praise to the benevolent Inari-sama, our father and mother.

 

[dwaite860@yahoo.com]

SWEET INARI-SAMA!!!!!! OUR PRAYERS!!!!! ANSWERED!!!!!!

:hail::hail::hail::hail::hail:
:hail::hail::hail::hail::hail:

 

[l3fty]

It lives!

Aha, now I can point all the Yuri haters at this part when they can't stand her belittling humans, or any other kitsune doing it.

Return of the Mugyuu! has arrived.

 

[tensho]

I am not ashamed to admit I literally stood up and did a fist pump when I saw this thread. Fucking yes!

Loving this!

 

[ibrahimthejoker]

I fan-girled when I saw this thread, definitely loved that, didn't think Nagakawa was that old but once again I was proven wrong:L.

 

[Time Shifter]

May there be praise, indeed! I'm ecstatic beyond words to see this, though I'm now plagued with wonder at where this new chapter is going to take us. So many opportunities!

 

[13ry4n]

Aha, now I can point all the Yuri haters at this part when they can't stand her belittling humans, or any other kitsune doing it.

This doesn't really change anything. She's still a bitch.

 

[Knyght]

Man, I wasn't anything expecting like this until much further down the line (if ever). And I notice a curious lack of Time Kitsune; understandable if it was before the events of Genkyouien but... :hmm:

Edit: Is the general plan the same, Daneel? Couple of chapters for the eight arcs or so.

 

[dwaite860@yahoo.com]

Man, I wasn't anything expecting like this until much further down the line (if ever). And I notice a curious lack of Time Kitsune; understandable if it was before the events of Genkyouien but... :hmm:

Edit: Is the general plan the same, Daneel? Couple of chapters for the eight hundred arcs or so.

Fix'd for hopeful correctness

 

[l3fty]

Aha, now I can point all the Yuri haters at this part when they can't stand her belittling humans, or any other kitsune doing it.

This doesn't really change anything. She's still a bitch.

Hot sexy bitch milf, yes.

 

[silentorphan]

"First Published on 26 AT (After Tamamo)"

This...makes me wonder exactly what happened (happens?). It's one thing to be titled "Her Invincible Majesty," as Yuriyo called her in the Genkyouien "epilogue"; it's quite another to HAVE AN AGE NAMED AFTER YOU.

 

[Daneel Rush]

Edit: Is the general plan the same, Daneel? Couple of chapters for the eight arcs or so.

The idea is the same, yes: a bunch of short "arcs" covering the rest of the "pre-time skip" period. However, it is the "arcs" themselves which have been subjected to changes, merging some together and adding some stuff I believe is necessary.

I've put some thought on how the different factions of relevance will move in this time period, and how these moves have to be shown throughout this story. While Moeyouden will certainly focus on Naruto and his great trip, I hope it fills the readers with the feeling that a whole lot of stuff is happening in the background. Some things will be familiar (searching for Tsunade, Akatsuki making a move, Sasuke being reckless), but the way I've expanded the setting necessarily means we're flying completely off the rails from now on. The Kitsune clans will start moving against Higashiyama and against each other, and the shinobi villages will notice something's up with the fox youkai and Konoha, and react accordingly. Lines will begin to be drawn, things will be set on fire, foxgirls will be pretty and Naruto just wants to learn a new jutsu (not Rasengan).

 

[13ry4n]

Aha, now I can point all the Yuri haters at this part when they can't stand her belittling humans, or any other kitsune doing it.

This doesn't really change anything. She's still a bitch.

Hot sexy bitch milf, yes.

A killer bod is no substitute for a lack luster personality.

 

[Capito Celcior]

Thank you, Daneel. Thank you for returning to this world...

 

[l3fty]

Aha, now I can point all the Yuri haters at this part when they can't stand her belittling humans, or any other kitsune doing it.

This doesn't really change anything. She's still a bitch.

Hot sexy bitch milf, yes.

A killer bod is no substitute for a lack luster personality.

Ok, let me expand on the "bitch" part:
700+ year old young hot looking grandma that had to be brutal and a survivor to fight and slaughter opposing family members to have her own place in the world, and won.
Mother and grandmother that has to be highly political and influental to keep her own home and descendants safe.
Not human mentality, which has emphasized dislike for humans.

Yes, she has her own gigantic flaws ("I have developed a sure fire way to bring out my daughter out of some random seal, not like it was crafted by Shinigami or something"), but that makes her all the more "human" as it were.

 

[13ry4n]

Aha, now I can point all the Yuri haters at this part when they can't stand her belittling humans, or any other kitsune doing it.

This doesn't really change anything. She's still a bitch.

Hot sexy bitch milf, yes.

A killer bod is no substitute for a lack luster personality.

Ok, let me expand on the "bitch" part:
700+ year old young hot looking grandma that had to be brutal and a survivor to fight and slaughter opposing family members to have her own place in the world, and won.
Mother and grandmother that has to be highly political and influental to keep her own home and descendants safe.
Not human mentality, which has emphasized dislike for humans.

Yes, she has her own gigantic flaws ("I have developed a sure fire way to bring out my daughter out of some random seal, not like it was crafted by Shinigami or something"), but that makes her all the more "human" as it were.

...and? Yeah she's a fairly well crafted character, I'm not saying she isn't. I'm just don't enjoy reading her. Which is weird: usually I like characters like her.

 

[Daneel Rush]

Naruto Moeyouden
- ナルト- 萌妖伝
Introduction I: Five Villages

For the sake of laziness, let us start begin this new story with some exaggerated prose. Ahem.

While summer raged wildly and mercilessly in the southern lands, weather in the Land of Lightning rarely warmed up beyond temperate in most of its territory, rich in mountains and even tundra in the far north. The breeze from the arctic end of the world danced amidst the sea of trees, hissing the song of ages. Along the path leading up the mountain, a tunnel of wind howled daringly, claiming the path rarely crossed by mortal feet. At the end of the ascending stairs rested a shrine—a complex of classical residences extending almost selfishly along the mountain’s slope, claiming that land for the family of women who called it home. Until recently, it had been a small, reclusive family, vaguely connected to the world beyond the mountain and only interested in making the best out of themselves. It was the actions of the youngest among them who changed their fate and inevitably set them to face the world.

In the larger of those houses, a single girl stood before an impractically large table. It was too tall to be a desk; it was merely a surface on which to place things, and it was indeed full until not a single inch of its surface could be seen beneath the maps, reports and ledgers sprawled over it. The girl sighed tiredly, charmingly pushing a lock of loose hair aside without success, because she lacked the human ears with which to keep it that way. Her ears instead stood atop her head, long and pointy and covered in fur of vivid silver like her short hair. Narrow eyes carmine like the dressing of her small lips were marred by ugly dark spots beneath; the mark of poor sleep. With her hands holding her weight against the table, she presented a tired image. Despite that, there was a practiced charm in her posture, in her slightly parted lips as she breathed out, in the provocative sway of her two silver tails and in the way her plain grey yukata hugged the curves of her ass. It was the result of decades-long education, instilling in her the idea that, no matter the circumstances, she should always look her most beautiful.

She was known as Higashiyama Yurimi, Fourth Matriarch of her kitsune clan. She was obviously not human, but one of those creatures of fantasy, awe and mystery humans had chosen to call “youkai”.

She also had a rather interesting fetish, but this is not the time for that.

Recently appointed Matriarch of her clan and leader of her people, young Yurimi carried the future of her family on her small shoulders. While her mother still handled most issues by virtue of her far superior knowledge and experience, Yurimi recognize that her venerable mother would not hold her hand forever. Thus, she threw herself on the records of her clan, trying to pump as much information into her mind as quickly as possible to decide on a strategy for her clan’s next actions.

Higashiyama, a clan of spirit kitsune, had openly defied the ancient leaders of their entire race—those revered and worshipped as the pinnacles of their kind, for they were gifted with the ninth tail and exalted above all others. The two “rightful” kyuubi, Kuromiya Fubuki and Shinkirou Kougon, had moved against the spirit clan because of Yurimi’s younger sister. Higashiyama Sayuri had received the ninth tail as well at the tender age of 101. It was by all means a crude mistake—such power should never be given to one so young and so ignorant. Indeed, a mere six months later, the girl’s wanderings took her to the Village Hidden among the Leaves, where the leader of their shinobi, the Fourth Hokage, sealed the little Sayuri in a newborn child.

Sayuri lived as a prisoner inside the boy, Uzumaki Naruto, for almost thirteen years.

Kuromiya Fubuki attacked Konoha in a bid to destroy Higashiyama, but she was repelled by the efforts of Naruto and Sayuri, who by that point had met each other and become dear friends. Meanwhile, Kougon was defeated by the oldest living kitsune, Kurosaki Sayoko, who threw the two nine-tailed kitsune into the darkest depths of the Labyrinth bordering reality.

And thus, I have summarized the whole prequel in a mere two hundred words. That’s kind of sad. I still encourage those currently confused out of their minds to read “Genkyouien”. A most daunting of ordeals, I know.

Back to Yurimi.

Her eyes roamed the large map of the continent that covered most of the table. Held flat after being unrolled by four stacks of books, it was also pinned by eleven tiny pagoda-shaped tokens. Her hand reached for another handful of those. Yurimi grimaced upon realizing she did not know where to place the next one. The little wooden pagodas clattered on the map when she dropped them to reach for the reports.

“The Chariot is floating over the southern sea, far from the coast of the Land of Fire.”

Yurimi looked up at the elegant figure stepping into her workroom, taking the new report being offered to her.

“My apologies. The latest report was still in my room,” said Higashiyama Yuri, Third Matriarch of Higashiyama.

Looking at their face, it would be hard to call them anything but mother and daughter. While the daughter still possessed the slight shapes of early pubescence—subtle, lovely and slight immoral; the mother, six hundred years the elder, wore and carried herself with the wiles of a mature woman who had reached her prime. Tall and voluptuous, elegant and beautiful beyond belief; Higashiyama Yuri was the quintessential image of the noble seductress: aristocratic gait and untouchable allure. To many young fox girls, the woman represented an ideal. To young Yurimi, her mother was what she was expected to one day become.

“So…it’s outside the map,” Yurimi thus said, looking at the bottom edge of the scroll. The mother nodded unseen while studying the map, upside down from her place across the table from the current Matriarch.

“I notice you placed Nagashirakawa’s token on the Land of Rivers,” said the elder youko with some humor.

“A placeholder,” replied Yurimi. “I just wanted to put it somewhere.”

Only the people of Nagashirakawa knew where their Shrine Realm—the main holding of their clan—was located.

“It…makes it difficult to figure out how they will move.”

“I assume that is Shizuku-sama’s intention,” Yuri pointed out. Yurimi frowned.

“You have spoken to her, mother,” she said, looking up at her progenitor. “What kind of person is she? Nagashirakawa Shizuku.”

“Eyes on the map, Yurimi,” scolded the mother. “That talk is best left for a better time.”

Yurimi squeezed her eyes tightly. She felt like she had been staring at that map for days.

“…you are right. My apologies.”

Yuri shook her head. It made sense for her daughter to feel curious about the youngest member of the Council of Great Clans, the ruling body of all kitsunekind. The Shadow Lady of Nagashirakawa was merely twenty years older than Yurimi, after all.

The young Matriarch focused on the immediate priority. The two kyuubi would set the Great Clans, and by extension all lesser clans that swore obedience to the Council, against them. They needed to know who would make the first move, and how.

“Should we expect the first action to come from our closest neighbors?” Yurimi proposed, pointing at the Amagumo token in the Land of Lightning and the Kinoshita token in the Land of Waterfalls.

Yuri shook her head.

“You cannot look at the situation as a simple ‘us versus them’ mindset,” she replied. “The Great Clans are more than their leaders. Even within a single clan, differing factions and interests may be at play, and all of them should be taken into account to understand their policies. For example…”

A dainty finger pushed on the northernmost token, placed on the distant tundra which nominally was part of Lightning Country, but was so distant and untouched by man that the Daimyo of Lightning did not bother exerting his sovereignty over there.

“Kuromiya follows the rule of the strong. Without Fubuki around, if only for a while, all sorts of groups will probably make a push for personal power. They will be busy messing with each other, so we can afford to push them out of our minds for some time.”

Yuri then reached for five of the pagodas haphazardly scattered on the map.

“But before anything else, you are missing the most important element, Yurimi-sama.”

The first she placed a bit off the center of the Land of Wind, about halfway between the tokens for the Great Wind and Sound clans. The second stood on the eastern part of the Land of Earth, very close to the token belonging to the Great Mountain Clan. The third she placed right next to the Great Lightning Clan’s pagoda. The fourth was placed near on the western coast of the largest island in the Land of Water archipelago, south of the Great Ocean Clan’s token. The last one Yuri placed on the center of the map, deep in the woodlands of the Land of Fire and not particularly close to any of the Great Clan tokens.

“The major shinobi villages,” Yurimi noted and her mother nodded.

“The political bodies of this continent were made by humans and are ruled by humanity to this day. Youkai live and intrude in human lands,” Yuri explained. “If there is any significant aggressive action by youkai, there will be a human reaction.”

Looking straight at her daughter, Yuri made her point clear.

“In any youkai conflict of decent scale, the human response should always be at the forefront of your thoughts and strategies.” Yuri crossed her arms below her plentiful bosom. “It’s the reason we don’t go on wars in the first place: it gets annoying when humans get involved.”

“Understood, mother,” Yurimi nodded, but then frowned. “But…should we not be more mindful of the Daimyos’ capitals, then?”

“The Daimyos may be in charge, but the shinobi are their major military tools. If the Daimyo choose to act against us youkai, it will be shinobi who spearhead the charge, and it will be their kage who make all battlefield decisions.”

“That…is true.” Yurimi agreed. “But…it shames me to admit I am not very well acquainted with the workings of shinobi villages beyond Konohagakure.”

Yuri rolled her eyes. “I would expect you to know more about Kumogakure, being closer to us and everything.”

The words brought the faintest blush to Yurimi’s white cheeks, but Yuri was more annoyed by the young girl avoiding her gaze.

“But…that’s not Master’s village…” Yurimi pouted in the faintest voice.

Yuri’s eyebrow twitched. Only then did she glance to the corner of the room, where the tiger youkai sisters Sei and Kanna, Yurimi’s new servants and bodyguards, offered her annoyingly understanding smiles.

“Sit.”

The two-tails did not hesitate to do as told.

“In that case,” Yuri said. “It comes to me to teach you about the so-called Hidden Villages of shinobi. Listen well and learn, Yurimi.”

“Yes.”

Knowledge is the foundation of strategy. Before the new Matriarch could hold the reins of her clan with confidence, she had to learn about the world that would stand in her way.

 

[dwaite860@yahoo.com]

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh.........and now my fix is sated for now.........B)

 

[KurokamiDG]

Yuri’s eyebrow twitched. Only then did she glance to the corner of the room, where the tiger youkai sisters Sei and Kanna, Yurimi’s new servants and bodyguards, offered her annoyingly understanding smiles.

Whoo! Yay more Tiger sisters!

They could be very fun characters to work with.

And it really is kinda sad how easy it is to summarize Genkyouien, but since it occurred in such a short passage of time I'm not surprised really.

 

[13ry4n]

I've got a question Daneel: about how long after genkoyuoein (oh however it's spelled) does this take place?

Please answer at your leisure.

 

[T.L]

As for the time setting I would say not long after.

 

[13ry4n]

As for the time setting I would say not long after.

I was looking for a specific time frame. Also that gif is on the smaller side.

 

[buytbuyt]

<inhale>

Fresh!

Welcome! New read!

long live Genkyouien!

<exhale>

 

[LOLRAINE]

I'm kinda divided about this. On one hand, I would love to see what you began in Genkyouien continue. On the other hand...I really don't want to see this essentially be following the timeline of future!Naruto that you gave us a glimpse into. I generally don't like stories that inform us of the end "result" and then go about writing how things get to that point. Which is a bit odd since I absolutely adore The Five Star Stories, manga, which pretty much gave us an timeline of everything that was going to happen + the end result right from the beginning and then went about showing us the events depicted.

It isn't even that I dislike the end "result" shown (Naruto is only with Setsuna and Sayuri because saying no to her is a bad idea??!! Rot in hell for that Daneel :C) as that wouldn't be much of a problem. I just don't like the certainty that we'll have if you're following that timeline. Yes, we don't know how events play out and so on. Reading about them will certainly be fun. It's just that the knowledge of the end "result" or at least a part of it takes something away in my opinion. So I hope that this will be lead to a different timeline.

 

[Daneel Rush]

The double doors of Sunagakure’s administrative center opened for the guests leaving the building. A lithe man of average length, dressed in elegant robes, was the first to exit. He was followed by half a dozen bodyguards of varying appearance. Each of them carried a short blade tied to their waist. Their ward held a bunch of scrolls under one arm instead, and wore a perfectly neutral expression save for a slightly scrunched up nose. With his free hand he fixed his whitish blond hair exposed to the unforgiving desert wind.

From atop a dilapidated building, long abandoned in the recession plaguing the Village Hidden in the Sand and the whole of Wind Country, a pair of siblings watched the entourage take to the sandy streets followed by a number of somewhat unhappy-looking shinobi.

“So that’s the guy,” said Temari, elder of the two. Peering on the foreign group while standing on one knee, she whistled appreciatively at their vanguard. “He’s a looker.”

Her brother looked up at her with no little disgust.

“That’s what comes to your mind…you’ll hate me for saying this, but you have terrible tastes in men.”

Temari promptly glared at the boy in black to her right.

“What!?” She spat. “You can’t tell me he is not handsome!”

Kankuro’s tired gaze fell on the man leading the procession. Certainly, this person was the kind of man people called bishounen. While undoubtedly male, there was a certain femininity in his facial features and litheness of body that elicited awe instead of respect. This was not a manly man, but Kankuro could not call him “queer” either.

“I could not care less,” he said with utmost honesty. “I just wanna know what his deal is.”

“And why do you think his deal is, hmm?” Temari prodded in a slight joking tone, but she was no longer ogling the stranger, instead studying him and his guard with the careful eyes of a skilled kunoichi.

“Is that a joke? Just look at this!” The boy hissed, using a hand to present the whole street to his sister. It was a pitiful place, certainly: the lack of other people on the streets and the large amount of closed businesses had nothing to do with the intense heat bearing down on the desert city.

Sunagakure had no money.

This is more than some general statement of the macroeconomic situation of the Hidden Village. Despite the artificially low prices traders were forced to accept to sell anything at all, the average resident, both ninja and civilian alike, simply did not have enough coins and bills to purchase goods and services with. There was simply not enough currency flowing in the Land of Wind. The Wind Daimyo’s policies led to a deflationary crisis which drove the shinobi village to a desperate, and ultimately failed, gambit against Konoha.

“We’re poor, Temari,” Kankuro said. “This village is in shambles, father is dead and almost half of our forces are still war prisoners in Konoha. So when some rich pretty boy comes from fuck knows where to request a meeting with whoever is in charge, I can’t help but think he’s up to no good.”

Temari pursed her lips.

“…don’t you think it’s a bit too early to be suspicious?”

“Not at all,” Kankuro barked, his harsh tone reflecting his terrible mood. A deep frown marred his features while he stared at the backs of the departing group. “There’s simply no money to be made here. Konoha holds us at their mercy, and they know we cannot afford to pay any reparations. What surprises me’s that there’s no reaction from Iwa or from those upstarts from Ishi.”

“Maybe they want to hire our ninja,” Temari proposed, but she knew it was not a good point the moment she voiced it.

“They could’ve just sent a messenger. If it’s a mission that required an entire entourage for a personal, private meeting, then, well, all the more reason to be suspicious, right?”

“Hmm. So…” Temari placed her right fist on her pursed lips. “…you think that rich-looking guy wants to harm our village in some way.”

“We don’t really know that much yet, but he’s definitely up to something,” a new voice, that of their Jounin mentor, spoke from some steps behind them. After the proper formalities, Kankuro all but begged for whatever scraps of info Baki could throw them. The gruff Jounin studied his young charges with his sole uncovered eye, perhaps pondering the wisdom of sharing anything with them, before speaking.

“For starters, he is kitsune.”

Kankuro’s frown grew even deeper. The battle of a tenday earlier was still fresh in their minds.

Temari winced perhaps to herself.

“Well that would explain why even the bodyguards were good-looking.”

The comment was not paid any attention.

“He did not hesitate to introduce himself as a youkai, which was admittedly wise of him,” Baki continued while the group of three followed the entourage from the rooftops. “We have ways to tell in the Council Room, as you know.” The teens nodded. “Then he proposed to purchase our village’s gold production.”

Kankuro would have spat anything he was drinking. Temari too seemed surprised by the offer.

“Bu-but, all gold that comes from our—”

“The Daimyo has the monopoly on all gold mines and bullion, yes,” Baki completed. “But if you think about it, we have few reasons to comply with Daimyo-sama’s rules at this point.”

“Ah, well…” The older sibling uttered forlornly.

“Wait,” Kankuro intervened. “What…percentage did he ask for? I mean, if we could…” He blushed a little. “Dunno, ‘sneakily’ reroute some of the gold production…”

Baki seemed amused by the idea and slapped the boy’s back in a way resembling approval. “He asked for the whole thing.”

“Wha—!? That’s—there’s no way he could buy everything!”

“Maybe,” Baki replied. “But whatever percentage he could in fact buy would still be income for us.”

“Well yeah…”

“But…” Baki insisted in the subtle questioning tone that told Kankuro he was expected to complete the sentence himself.

“But…it will be at the expense of the rest of the Land of Wind.”

Baki nodded approvingly and Kankuro grinned with pride in his heart.

“You mean it will make things even worse?” Temari inquired. She had never put much thought on where money came from and how, as long as she got paid for her work.

The two males nodded, and the elder allowed the Genin to explain.

“You know that in general we have to import a lot of stuff.”

“We kind of live in the middle of a desert, so yeah,” Temari retorted.

“Right. So, the thing is, we have to pay for those things in gold, because it’s the only thing of worth the other countries need from us. It’s the basis of our currency, you know, even if only the people who manage a hell of a lot of money get to see a gold coin in their lives.”

Temari nodded, despite being one of those who had never carried a gold coin in her purse. She was a pitiful child of silver and brass. And paper.

“The Daimyo also needs to import the silver, copper and zinc to mint new small-denomination coins, and even the paper to print new bills,” Kankuro added.

“Something he had not done a great job of in the past few years,” Baki added with a hint of a mocking tone.

“So…” Temari then spoke as she came to terms with the information she had gained. “The more gold we give to the kitsune, the less that could become new currency for the Land of Wind.”

“Right,” Kankuro agreed. “We would get a net gain, but the rest of the land would starve even more. And it wouldn’t even help with Wind’s merchants being neck-deep in debt.”

“Right,” Baki repeated, and Temari realized she did not even want to know.

“So…I take it the interim council rejected mister kitsune,” the blonde then said. Baki nodded.

“Well, yes, but not for the reasons you might be thinking of.” Noting he had their attention, he continued. “A message from the Daimyo’s steward came late last night. The contents were enough of a reason to dismiss the kitsune. More importantly, how’s Gaara?”

“Wha—you can’t just leave us hanging like that!” Kankuro complained.

“I’m fairly sure I can. Temari?”

The young woman went a bit stiffer at the insistent tone of her Jounin teacher.

“Ah, yes! Gaara is…well, quiet, sir. He eats his meals and does not really move from the building, but he doesn’t do much of anything. And he doesn’t let us get close.”

“Well, the sand doesn’t let us get close,” Kankuro clarified. “Not that that’s unusual, though.”

They stood atop the exterior wall of the village watching the kitsune merchant disappear behind the curtains of a palanquin then risen by eight people. As the suspicious group slowly marched away into the sea of sand, Kankuro addressed his Jounin mentor one last time.

“Sensei. You said ‘something he had not done a great job of’. Is that why you rejected that youkai’s offer? Has Daimyo-sama proposed a better policy?”

“Hmm…” It took a while for Baki to think of an answer for that.

“I don’t know if it will prove any better, but at least it’s different and worth giving a try.”

He ignored the younger ninjas’ dissatisfied frowns while keeping the second half of his and the interim council’s thoughts to himself.

That the idea was so different it was hard to believe it came from the Daimyo’s court.