Uno reverse card, Ren's lips twitched. That simple card game served them well when they were bored during slow, cozy evenings together. Yet, hearing such a phrase come from the mouth of a kunoichi was still a bit strange for him.
Not paying much attention to the small fluctuation in Ren's mood, Hinata continued, "I intend to appoint Ino as my stand-in for the Hyuga seat. Unfortunately for Sarutobi, Bimbo has a much bigger bone to pick with him than me." She chuckled, her voice carrying an underlying sense of spiteful mirth.
'Ah.' Ren understood. Her plan wasn't some layered, complex scheme that even an old mastermind and strategist like Sarutobi would not see coming. Instead, it was a relatively simple case of putting an even bigger obstacle in her place out of sheer spite.
Hinata opposed them a lot, but she was a busy person. She had a clan to look after, hospital work to manage, a boyfriend, a sister, a father, and a few friends to spend time with, in addition to keeping up with her experiments and training.
Where would she find the time and desire to make Sarutobi her priority?
Ino, however, was different. Not only did she take her grudge against the man more personally, but she also had way more free time than Hinata.
She actually listened when Ren gave his students the lecture about the benefits of slacking off. Her chosen profession in the ninja ranks was far more relaxed. Konoha did not have that many captured enemies for interrogation. It wasn't like the hospital where injured people came and went all the time. For Ino, it wasn't unusual to do her work in two to three hours, and then spend the rest of the day just sitting in her office on a coffee break, with nothing to do.
She could definitely spare the time and effort to make Sarutobi's life miserable. She was already doing her best in that regard by secretly helping his grandson prank him. But that was just a minor annoyance at best for the old man.
Well, as much as finding dog poop under his pillow in the evening could be called a 'minor' annoyance.
Bless Konohomaru and his childish gullibility. Some of the things Ino had the kid do... Then again, it wasn't as if she was taking advantage of him too much. She was lowkey giving him good ninja training to pull off the pranks. Successfully pranking a 'God of Shinobi' was not easy.
The last time the kid almost managed to nail his grandfather in the face with a cake, right as he was leaving his office. Sadly, the man showed his extensive ninja experience and ducked at the last second, causing the cake to land on Koharu's face instead.
Poor Konohamaru was still grounded for it.
This seat on the council, however? That's where the real punches could roll in. Hinata pretty much gave Ino the keys to the kingdom alongside the carte blanche to do whatever she wished. Now she could truly start throwing hands.
But... "Can you even do that?" Ren questioned, "Give the Hyuga council seat to a non-Hyuga, I mean." He couldn't imagine there wouldn't be all sorts of rules against that.
"Weeell," Hinata deviously smirked and looked at Ren with big, innocent eyes, "I can now, thanks to you."
"Me?" Ren's eyebrows furrowed, but Hinata did not give him time to figure it out.
"Yes. You married us both, so technically, we are family." Hinata playfully poked Ren in the stomach. "That neatly invalidates any possible protest anybody can have. Not even Sarutobi can say anything, considering it was he who married us in the first place."
Ren gave the girl lying in his lap an exasperated look with a hint of admiration hidden in his expression as he continued to caress her hair. Yeah. Sarutobi was probably not going to be happy about Hinata's interpretation of the village's laws.
Was she correct? He had no idea!
Could be. He only knew that nobody had ever done anything like this. But that's what made her plan great in the first place. They would not even think about this possibility until it is too late. The idea that a clan seat would be given to somebody outside of the clan, even if only temporarily, was pure madness in their way of thinking.
"The best part," Hinata blissfully sighed and closed her eyes, "is that they won't be able to get rid of Ino the same way they did with me anymore. It would be far too obvious. It was a move they could have used only once. They don't have enough political capital to push through the Hyuga clan again when the Ino-Shika-Cho alliance will absolutely stand behind Ino, too."
"And will your clan be okay with that?" Ren worriedly asked. There was no way this wouldn't cause some friction.
"More or less? Who cares, really?" Hinata huffed, "I didn't put so much effort into making the clan better, just so some idiot with an inflated ego can dictate what I can and can not do as the clan head. I am not my father." She dryly said, and Ren inwardly winced, involuntarily feeling a bit bad for Hiashi.
That was not very fair to the man. He did his best. On the other hand, Ren remembered that he was always a bit of a stuck-up asshole, so his bad feelings quickly dried up.
They didn't have a great relationship. Hiashi already hated that Ren had 'used his position as her teacher to seduce his little girl'. But when he married both Ino and Hinata at the same time...
Let's just say there was a reason why he wasn't invited to any family dinner at the Hyuga compound.
It didn't help that Hanabi supposedly liked to tease Hinata about her boyfriend, according to Ino, who was a frequent visitor at the Hyuga compound nowadays.
Ren suspected she did so, just to enjoy how Hiashi's expression twisted into a new shade of sour every time Ren was mentioned and Hinata blushed.
Ren opened his mouth to speak, but suddenly, the door to the room flew open, and Ino merrily waltzed in while humming a tune under her nose, only to stop in her tracks upon seeing Ren and Hinata on the couch.
She slowly blinked before her lips stretched into a mischievous grin. "Yo. What are you two doing? Foreplay?"
"Does it look like that?" Hinata dryly deadpanned, waving her free hand over her clothed form.
"I don't know." Ino nonchalantly shrugged as she reached the armchair and flopped into it. "It could be some new, kinky, emotional thing since you are involved. Sage knows that clothes make no difference for you, Mrs. Hyuga."
Too used to Ino's usual brand of teasing, Ren simply chuckled as Hinata's eyes narrowed, and calmly answered to stave off the impending argument between the two girls, "We were just talking about Hinata's day and what's new in Konoha. "
"Oh, did she already brag about her little conversation with the Hokage?" Ino perked up, and Hinata let out a long sigh.
Sensing something juicy, a faint smirk appeared on Ren's face as he ignored the small pleading look Hinata threw at him. "No?" He gave the girl in his lap a meaningful look. "Weirdly enough, she didn't mention anything."
"Almost as if she were embarrassed?" Ino leaned closer, her voice becoming sweeter.
"Now that you mention it..." Ren trailed off and nodded in mock seriousness.
"You both suck." Hinata groaned and turned over to face away from Ren. "It's nothing important." She grumpily continued, "We are at war, and certain precautions need to be taken. So, Tsunade offered me the position of her successor."
"Oh." Ren got taken aback. He didn't expect that. Still, this was huge! Out of all the ninjas in Konoha, Tsunade had chosen Hinata. "Congratulations!"
"I told her to fuck off." Hinata plainly confessed, making Ren speechless.
It took him a moment to react. "... I would expect that answer from Ino."
"Hey!" Ino protested, but she was ignored by both Hinata and Ren in favor of things that mattered more than her fake indignation.
Hinata awkwardly smiled at Ren. "Strangely, I have this feeling that for some reason, it only made her like me more."