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Hosting guests at one's home was a common occurrence for people of influence, but Takuma was also aware that the Hokage had not hosted people at his home since the death of his wife during the Nine-Tails attack. As such, stepping into the Hokage's house somehow felt more consequential than it already was.
"This must be Commander Stag's childhood home," Takuma said, looking around the very simple tatami hall decorated with tasteful paintings, calligraphy, pottery, and ornamental metalwork. "Is his childhood room intact by chance? I'd love to be able to claim that I was in the childhood room the next time I meet him."
The Hokage laughed merrily. "Wouldn't that be a jolly conversation."
A woman in her fifties served a very simple meal fitting for an elderly man who was one birthday away from hitting seventy. However, there was more than enough for two of them—not to mention Takuma's portion was larger—so he couldn't be sure if the Hokage intended to invite him beforehand or if it was an impromptu invitation.
"Do you still live with Kosuke?" Hiruzen asked as they ate.
Takuma nodded. "He was more than kind enough to invite me into his home when I returned from war… I sometimes wonder if I'm overstaying my welcome."
Takuma lowered his chopsticks as the memory of the state he was in when he knocked on Maruboshi's door came back. Giving him a roof over his head until he recovered was one thing, but that was years ago, and his presence in the house had long since grown out of his room and changed things. They rebuilt and expanded the shed last year to be able to accommodate Takuma's growing belongings.
"Knowing him, Kosuke would've told you if he found your cohabitation undesirable," Hiruzen said. Takuma certainly hoped so. "But have you thought about starting a home of your own? My eldest moved out when he married. It was the right decision considering they were planning to start a new family."
Takuma certainly didn't have plans for a family any time soon, if ever, but the thought of a little kid with pale green hair flashed past his mind.
He shook his head. "I'm grateful that I get to see sensei every day, talk to him and get wisdom that I so severely lack. For now, as long as he's willing to bear with me, I don't have a desire for my own place." It wasn't like he spent a lot of time at home—no, that would be incorrect; his clones frequently studied books and scrolls at home.
"I'm sure he's equally grateful for your company," Hiruzen replied.
There was something in his tone that made Takuma wonder if the Hokage was lonely. His wife had long passed away, his elder son had his own family and ANBU duties, and his relationship with the younger son wasn't the best. Even his students were estranged from him.
After dinner, the plates were cleared, and a platter of wagashi was served. The mood of the conversation had been light until the Hokage asked a question about the case Takuma was currently working on.
"When the verdict falls on the Aburame, the rest of the clan will be watching closely. If the Aburame are found guilty, what message should the punishment send to the other clans?"
Takuma wasn't bothered by the "if" in the Hokage's statement. He was the leader of the village, and it was his duty not to make careless statements until everything was final. The Aburame hadn't gotten their chance to defend themselves yet. Even if he completely believed that they were guilty, he couldn't claim that in front of an ANBU subordinate, one who was handling the investigation, and risk some kind of misunderstanding.
Takuma considered the question carefully. Disciplining the Aburame might be central to the issue, but it was hardly the only factor the Hokage and the higher-ups had to balance. An ANBU operation of this scale targeting a major clan was bound to draw intense scrutiny. Too light a sentence would be seen as a weakness and might bolster the clan to act with greater impunity. Nor could it be severe enough to trigger a collective panic across the village's power structure and possibly cause the clans to close ranks.
"With the demise of the Wind and Water Daimyo," Takuma began carefully, his words surprising the Hokage, "the Fire Daimyo's strict mandate has resulted in the clans restraining their interests around the country not to draw his ire. They know that you had to accept a reduction in funding to maintain peace so that the nation could be strong as one. So when the Aburame clan's deeds go public, everyone needs to understand that they undermined your difficult decisions made for the good of the village. The Daimyo, the outsiders—they won't see this as the Aburame clan's mistake, but as the Hidden Leaf's mistake. It would be seen as the shinobi overstepping their bounds, and it would stoke the fears that are currently floating…"
The world had a very specific image of shinobi. They were the military that kept the nation safe and waged wars; they were contracted as law enforcement to keep order; they were hired as security to protect against any threat; and they were thieves and killers. Even if shinobi were regularly employed for all types of odd jobs that had nothing to do with combat—after three large-scale wars that were called the Shinobi World Wars and many smaller ones in between—their reputation was very much entrenched in battle.
Shinobi were both the good and the bad. However, people tended to fear them because of their powers.
The topic of whether the shinobi could usurp their nation from the respective daimyo was evergreen. Before the formation of the villages, when the shinobi were disjointed and warring with each other, the daimyo's samurai were a fearsome force that no clan or even alliance wanted to fight. But since the unification of shinobi under the hidden villages, their strength had evolved under the benefit of pooled resources and the end of the shinobi warring era.
The shinobi had certainly grown to a point where they could most definitely dethrone the daimyo.
There were various popularly accepted reasons as to why that hadn't happened already. Some pointed to the fact that shinobi never stopped fighting each other—they went from fighting neighbouring clans to fighting other hidden villages; the shinobi feared that internal strife within the nation would give other nations an opportunity to attack. The eradication of the Hidden Whirlpool was still fresh in the minds of many. Others claimed that the hidden villages weren't interested in ruling nations and were satisfied with their current position that matched their mercenary culture. After eighty years of existence, they were the primary military strength of their nation with no other alternative and thus enjoyed the benefits of that position.
Some people also thought that the hidden villages didn't think it was worth it because the daimyo would not go out without a fight. The royal treasuries filled with the nation's taxes were beyond what most people could imagine. The hidden village's military funding was only a part of those treasuries. If push came to shove, the daimyo could employ other foreign shinobi to fight for him—because who were they if not mercenaries?
If someone asked Takuma, he would answer that if the Hidden Leaf overthrew the daimyo, that day would be the end of the Hidden Leaf. He could imagine the shinobi clans and the jōnin never coming to an agreement on a leader, in fear that it would tip the balance, as the scale of position was greater than the Hokage—and instead carving up the nation among themselves and going their own separate ways, in a way reverting to how things were before the formation of the village.
"Hoshigaki Kisame of the Hidden Mist went rogue and murdered the Water Daimyo. The Hidden Mist wasn't able to control their people," Takuma said, bringing up the event that would be forever etched into the Land of Water's history. "We don't want to give the Fire Daimyo a reason to doubt his confidence in us…"
The Fire Daimyo wasn't happy with how things had gone with ROOT, and it was seen as a sign that the Hidden Leaf wasn't able to control their own people. What the Aburame had done wouldn't improve that impression.
The Hokage instantly understood what Takuma meant.
While the Land of Fire's ruler had business with the shinobi clans, he had only dealt with the Hokage for the Hidden Leaf matters. If he lost confidence in the Hokage, and as twitchy as the ruler was at the moment, he could very well start escalating his direct dealings with the clans. A clan or an alliance of clans receiving the Fire Daimyo's favour could cause a lot of problems and even cause a fracture within the village.
"We need to get the clans in line. They need to understand that they cannot overstep the very generous bounds the village has set up for them. No one's stopping the clans from running proper businesses—clans had their ventures even before the village was formed—but they need to be reminded of their core identity as shinobi."
"They are mercenaries, not merchants," Hiruzen said.
"Those are great words, Lord Hokage," Takuma nodded heavily, fully intending to steal them if he ever needed them. "If they are greedy for more, then they need to get it like shinobi, which is very straightforward: get stronger. Strength is rewarded; is that not our culture?"
"What if one clan gets too powerful?" Hiruzen asked.
"I believe in the power of competition. If these clans see one of them pull away, they'll do everything in their power to catch up. They need to nurture their talent better. If their house is lacking in talent, they need to look outside much more than they do now," Takuma said, speaking as someone who had been supporting civilian-born shinobi, but there was only so much he could do as one person. The clans could do so much more.
He said all of this knowing the future that was coming. The Hidden Leaf needed to grow stronger if it wanted to survive. The truth was that they were still feeling the effects of the tragedy that was the Nine-Tails attack that lost them the Fourth Hokage, many jōnin, and bled talent that could've been their future. Even the loss of ROOT, while the correct decision, was being felt, as they had lost five jōnin who could've fought for the Hidden Leaf. The ANBU had managed to plug the holes left behind by ROOT, but Danzō had built ROOT over decades; it wasn't something that could be replaced in mere years.
"If we allow the clans to see that one of them can gain more wealth by being lazy, they'll follow the example and try to get more by being lazy. And in our culture and profession, being lazy often leads to demise."
"What if instead of catching up, they try to pull them down?" Hiruzen asked. "I feel that would be easier."
"Is that not why we are here? It's ANBU's job to prevent that with a firm hand," Takuma said.
Hiruzen was silent for a great while as he contemplated Takuma's words. He certainly wasn't expecting him to connect what the Aburame had done with what was happening overseas.
Honestly, Takuma wasn't that concerned about the Fire Daimyo; it wasn't his responsibility to handle that relationship, but it certainly gave more weight to his words, so he was happy to use the village-country political situation to his benefit. He had learned that great ideas were only as good as their presentation.
"In your assessment, who possesses the qualities necessary to be the next Hokage?" Hiruzen suddenly asked.
"P-Pardon?" The word slipped out before Takuma could filter it. He was thrown completely off balance as his mind scrambled to catch up with the sudden question.
"When the time comes to pass the hat, whose name comes to mind?" Hiruzen asked, with not a hint of teasing or amusement in his eyes.
Takuma was so surprised that he found himself staring for a few seconds before his mind finally reeled into place, and he managed to say a few words without blurting them out as a word salad:
"That is not for me to decide, Lord Hokage. It's not my place to answer that."
"No one's telling you to decide the next Hokage. I'm asking you for your thoughts, so it's your place. Do not worry and give me your honest answer."
Takuma opened his mouth multiple times to say something, only to close it without words. Despite the assurance, he wasn't sure if he should answer that. He drank from the glass of water on the table so he could buy himself some time. As he put the glass down, he met the Hokage's eyes, and he couldn't tell what the old shinobi was thinking.
"In my insignificant opinion… Uchiha Itachi is a person who possesses the qualities to lead the village, and I feel confident he will do a fantastic job if he's chosen," Takuma finally said, rethinking each word even after they had left his mouth.
Hiruzen didn't seem surprised by his answer. "Is he not too young for the position?" he asked.
Takuma shrugged. "Yes, he is, but he's also the only person I know personally who I'd want to be my Hokage, so I don't have another name I can give you." Even when he knew about Itachi's illness, he still thought of him as the top candidate. "Ideally, I'd want him as perhaps the Sixth Hokage, but I don't know if the next Hokage would select him as his preferred successor."
"And I would?"
"You selected a civilian-born. I don't think you'd disregard Itachi just because he's an Uchiha," Takuma said in a soft tone.
The reality was that Madara's treason still cast a looming shadow over the Uchiha clan even now. Worse still, it was common knowledge that the Second Hokage didn't want an Uchiha to ever hold the village's highest office. As his student, one would expect that Hiruzen would follow his teacher's words, but he was also the student of the First Hokage, who didn't harbour any such feelings towards the Uchiha clan.
Having observed the Third Hokage, Takuma was confident that Hiruzen didn't hold any such preconception.
Hiruzen nodded. "I thoroughly enjoyed our conversation, Takuma. I hope you'll keep everything we discussed to yourself."
"Not a word of it will be spoken outside these walls," Takuma said seriously.
"Excellent," Hiruzen smiled and pushed the plate of wagashi towards him. "Have a sweet."
Takuma finally relaxed and immediately felt tired. He knew that he was going to drift into dreamland the moment he hit the pillow. He looked forward to shutting off his brain and going to sleep.
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