Arc 2 Chapter 7 Part 1- Age: 10.02, Year: 14.02

Apologies for the delay in the chapter- I've been dealing with a few problems at home I am afraid but things should be back in order following today!

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This was a little more difficult to manage than I'd expected.

I stared at the burning seal in front of me that slowly fizzled out into nothing. The seal that had taken up the past hour or so to create.

I just stared at the utter waste of time in front of me- I'd thought that having a twin set of Yamanaka's, from my graduation class, would've meant I could somewhat create a form of a mindscape for the two of them to use directly given their identical biology but evidently chakra just didn't give a shit about twins.

I could bootleg a Sharingan's activation onto a sword but god forbid I put a set of twins on the same wavelength.

Letting out a sigh, I made a mental note to figure out something else to charge an obscene- I mean gift the Yamanakas for their help in establishing the Kaguya clan as an actual Konohan clan.

On the table in front of me I took in, with slightly more annoyance, the fruits of my labour over the past month.

A glove that expanded a ninja's chakra area by half a centimetre- Which on its own was borderline useless until one slapped it onto a Hyuga and doubled their Tenketsu point shutdown reach. And frankly, given the shitshow that went down in that particular vote, I was going to charge the living shit out of them for it. Granted, I kind of did set them up but, potato potahto.

Off to the side of it, I took in the wristband that helped a ninja forcibly control their body mass by transforming and pushing out any extra calories into storage for chakra- Yes, yes I know hold the pitchforks, I was creating an entire generation of fat-shamers- which were going to be explicitly handed out to only the Akimichi as it helped them make full use of their bloodline.

Beside that was a crystal with a small ball of pure light inside it- I wasn't sure if the Nara wanted a necklace or not yet- that effectively pulsed shadows out like a hot summer day. The artificial light had a secondary quirk of pushing out artificial shadows that I hoped the Nara's were smart enough to use as a distraction and if not, at the very least they didn't have to create their own light from now on. I wasn't sure how I'd managed to make the chakra required to charge it come from the fucking sun but I wasn't going to question it either.

The other clans were still a work in progress in truth- Though to be completely honest all of this was nothing in comparison to the complete health check only three clans in the village had managed to get a hold off- The Senju because of, well, favouritism at this rate. The Uchiha because they're the only fucks willing to follow me blindly- That vote was really telling in where I stood amongst the people. And the Kaguya because I'd brought them in myself. Everyone else was still waiting for their shot at it and Tobirama was milking the hell out of that.

Was it a dick move? Absolutely. Did I feel bad about it? Funny.

My chakra pinged at the sudden arrival moments before he'd showed up as I let out a sigh and swivelled my chair around- Yes, I'd brought office chairs into existence and no it didn't make Hashirama feel any better about the mountain of paperwork I'd created for him in the form of health care.

I idly took in Tobirama as he flickered into his lab, his gaze landing squarely on me for a moment before filtering over towards my desk and frowning. "Still working on trivial artifacts I take it?"

"You caught me on my break," I grinned.

He let out a sigh at that and walked up beside me, his gaze going through each new toy before landing on the Nara's gift with a frown. I watched him pick up the small crystal to peer at the seals used on it and the chakra oozing out of it. "...How exactly-"

"Couldn't fucking tell you." I deadpanned, cutting him off. "I think it was a result of a fifth seal of coffee."

That was the other thing I'd brought into existence.

Ninja caffeine, or as the suddenly frowning shinobi beside me called it, "I told you to stop inscribing genjutsus on yourself."

I shrugged my shoulders at that. "What can I say, it's a problem."

He gave me a deadpan look. "So stop."

"I didn't say it was a manageable problem, sensei."

He shook his head at that and promptly took the free seat beside me. "You realise creating these tools of yours isn't what I had in mind when I made this lab for you right?"

I blinked at that. "I do this shit in my free time," He rolled his eyes at me, the disrespectful fuck.

"You don't have free time, Shimura. You have a purpose to fulfil here and creating toys isn't it."

"My bad." I deadpanned. "Lemme just go fix up a portal to the fucking afterlife for you,"

He raised an eyebrow at me for that one. "Can you?"

"...I can't tell if you're legitimately asking me to create a portal to the afterlife or not, right now,"

He shrugged at me. "Only if it's possible, or is that above your paygrade." I held in the sigh at the fucker repeating the words I'd thrown on a Hyuga's face when he'd tried to bypass his clan head in asking me for the health records they all desperately wanted.

"....Look even if it was, even you must realise the clusterfuck that'd lead to."

"That doesn't answer my question." He pointed out quickly.

"...Tobirama-sama I am going to say this once- I am not going to try to create a portal to the afterlife for you."

He gave me a long look for a moment before a small smile filled up his face. "That still doesn't answer my question."

I rolled my eyes at the childish fuck.

"Language, Shimura."

I couldn't help the twitch at that.

He let out a snort at that and leaned into his swivel chair. "You were right, it is fun."

"Of course, that's the one thing you bother agreeing with," I sighed. "So, whatchu here for anyway? I doubt this was just a social call."

He nodded at that and started sifting through one of the pockets on his shinobi vest.

I blinked at the seal he brought out and handed towards me. Giving it a glimpse over, I raised an eyebrow at the number imprinted on it.

"That is your reward," He calmly said.

I read the number over again. "For what exactly?" I questioned somewhat still in shock.

"Officially speaking, the corpses you brought into the Inuzuka trial."

"Those fucks weren't worth a fifth of this number!" I pointed out quickly.

He nodded at that, a slightly amused smile on his face. "Unofficially, it's everything you've done for the past few months." He let out a shrug. "You may be a headache and a half Shimura, but make no mistake, I am well aware of the value you've brought in."

"...Are you trying to buy me off?" I questioned, somewhat weirded out.

He raised an eyebrow at that. "If wealth was all it took for your loyalty, believe me, we would not be having this conversation."

"Fair point, I absolutely could've started up a Bloodline Black Market if that was the case."

He started at me like I was deranged for that one. "...That's not exactly where..." His eyes narrowed at me. "...If you were to run out of money, Shimura, I insist you come to me first."

I snorted at that and promptly handed back the seal worth approximately seventy-two S Rank missions or the equivalent of three high-level S Rank Ninja's yearly salary and took in the sudden confusion that filled his face at it. "Put this into the Kaguya's Compound."

He blinked at that as he grabbed the seal of my hands. "...You want to buy the compound?" He questioned, still confused.

Was it that cheap!?

"Could I?" I questioned for a moment before shaking my head. "No, I just want ten percent."

"...Of?" He clarified.

"You know, whatever their taxes are to the village, I want ten percent." I waited for a beat. "You can do that can't you?"

"...I suppose," He muttered, his head tilted ever so slightly as he pocketed the seal. "But that's the kind of thing to ask for when bringing them in, not after." He let out a sigh. "And besides I don't imagine it'll be all that much in truth-"

I cut him off. "I wasn't giving you the money for the ten percent, I still want you to put it into the compound."

I watched as something flashed across his eyes at that. "And what exactly does Konoha get in return for your ten percent then?"

"Bitch I done made-" I started off, quickly earning a twitch, before I coughed and got my emotions back under control. "What I mean to say is, it'll work out a lot better for us in the future-"

"If I gave a single ninja what amounts to a percent of the village's taxes?" He cut me off with a raised eyebrow. "You're smart enough to realise the pitfall that leads to, don't you?"

"Yeah? So?" I crossed my arms. "I am been nice about it at least."

He appraised my gaze for a moment, his eyes searching mine before he came to a conclusion. "You don't care about money, Shimura. So where is this actually coming from?"

I smiled at that. "Let's just call it an investment into politics and leave it there?"

His eyes narrowed slightly at that. "You playing politics... Doesn't that bode well for the rest of us," He finished with a frown. "Very well then," He paused for a moment as he tapped his fingers on the desk. "And, what did you have in mind exactly regarding the money in of itself? Or am I to handle it any way I wish?"

"Build a hospital for one." He blinked at that. "I know, I know, we already have one but that's mostly ninja-oriented, in files and staff." I waited for a moment. "I want a general one, for the public."

He frowned at that. "Why? The hospital we hold can already handle-"

"Anyone can pretend to be a civilian, Sensei." I watched as the realisation rapidly swept through his face. "Better to err on the safe side and separate the two, don't you think?" You can refuse a foreign ninja when it comes to healing but not a foreign merchant oddly enough.

And judging by the mild hint of annoyance on his face that seemed undirected towards me in particular, I had a feeling that the shit-show of a medical institute was about to have a lot of new ground rules.

"All things considered, Konoha's more than happy to pay for such a thing," Tobirama pointed out after coming to a conclusion of sorts of his own.

"Yeah, but Konoha wouldn't build it where I'd want it so consider that a location fee of sorts."

He crossed his arms, the frown still on his face. "You want to drive people towards it,"

Bingo.

"...I take it you want to give any prospective merchants a haircut on their tax for the few years as well, provided they operate within that compound?" I nodded at that before modifying the few into three years specifically though I was somewhat happy the fucker had a brain. "Residents too?" He queried a slight hint of confusion on his face.

"Nope." He blinked at that. "That's called favouritism."

"And the rest isn't?" He questioned dryly.

"Anyone can be a merchant, anyone can work in that general hospital... Only a Kaguya can live in the compound itself."

And that was just the status of things in truth- Civilians without a connection to a clan literally just couldn't live in said compounds for security reasons.

He let out a snort at that. "As long as anyone can benefit from it, no one can complain." He nodded slowly. "And what if they bring up the tax break for their merchants in regards to their own compounds?"

"They can pay up for it then." I snorted. "I am paying for the Kaguya's, it's not like it's free."

"Just don't tell them how much you're paying," He finished for me.

"Got it in one," I grinned at the man who rolled his eyes at me.

"Still, that doesn't explain the rest of your little fund." He pointed out. "This is no meagre sum, Shimura."

"Build a school." He blinked at that, a frown quickly filling up his face. "Not an acadamy!" I added on. "A school, a regular, non-ninja school for the civilians."

He processed that for a moment, his eyes searching mine as the pieces slowly and surely formed a very, very, terrifying image in his head.

Driving merchants to a compound was one thing... attracting merchants to it was another.

And the less said about breeding loyalty to a compound the better.

After a very uncomfortable amount of time, Tobirama let out a sigh and shook his head at me. "...I am starting to understand what my brother really sees in you," He remarked slowly. "You're a very dangerous individual, Shimura."

I blinked at that with a frown. "...Does... Does that mean we don't have a deal?"

He processed that for a moment before rolling his eyes at me. "If I were to say no, you'd take your money and do it behind my back all the same."

"Oh, I'd double down, double the haircut, double the hospital, double the everything." I snorted. "And good luck paying for shit anywhere else without my book fund." Which admittedly was doing one hell of a job for Konoha's poorest.

To the point, our poorest couldn't actually qualify as poor anywhere else.

A village that gave a fuck made the streets a lot less depressing.

I've been to Kiri, I should know.

His amused expression suddenly turned very uncomfortable at that. "...If. Shimura. I said if."

"So we have a deal?" I questioned, a tad happier than the start of today all things considered.

I watched him hold back the urge to sigh. "Yes, we have a deal," He paused for a moment. "Honestly, you really do jump the kunai too quickly. And speaking off... I am going to need you to avoid doing that on another matter."

"Huh? Whatchu mean?"

"Truth is, your pay isn't the only reason I am here," He pointed out warily. "Your team has a mission."

My eyes widened ever so slightly at that. "Are they finally done with their D ranks?" he nodded at that. "About freakin' time!" I grinned. "So, what's our first C rank gonna be?"

Tobirama had what looked like a forced deadpan look to his face. "It's not exactly a C rank." He pointed out. "More... Of an A rank really."

"...You mean to tell me Utabaka and Hiru are gonna go from doing D-ranks to an A just like that?" I paused and gave the man a chance to rectify-

"Yes." A beat passed as he frowned slightly. "And your teammate's name is Utatane, Shimura."

I ignored him correcting me. "...Are... Is this politics? Like Inuzuka trial politics?" I questioned, heavily frowning.

"Yes." Tobirama nodded without a hint of hesitation. "You were requested specifically because of it." He tilted his head slightly at that, his finger on his chin. "Ironically, that was likely the biggest motivator for this mission as whole."

...Oh I had a real bad fucking feeling about this.

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Will be uploaded for free on the 29th of this month!