Haruto and Emiko walked in front with me. But they were in perfect formal formation. Haruto was just two steps behind me with Emiko on the other side. But in a way that my Guards could stop even them if they tried anything. Was someone teaching them all etiquette? The Summer legion walked behind us, in three neat rows. Our pace was slow in the morning sun. But it kind of felt nice. Pleasant.
I tried to emulate the Hokage's tone and expression. "Haruto, is there something you would like to tell me?" I hadn't had that talk with Emi yesterday. But when I thought about it, I didn't need to.
The silence stretched between us. I didn't turn, but I could feel him fidgeting. I get why Hiruzen is so fond of long, awkward silences. Haruto resisted and broke down. "I'm sorry, Lord Ren. But I felt it was in the best interests of the clan. But our intent was not to deceive you. These girls truly do like you. Just not to the extent they may have portrayed."
I saw the expressions of my beloved guards stiffen up.
So my guess was right? "I see. I assume that Emi's view yesterday was actually your opinion in her voice?"
"Yes, Lord Ren, it was."
"And your reason for this little scheme?"
"Your protection truly was the main reason for assigning guards to you. The reason I restructured my squads to create a squad of girls who liked you was that I feared what an external Kunoichi could do as the Mistress."
Why was he giving paranoid Danzo vibes?
"You're being paranoid. By staying within the clan, I would deprive us of a strong bond of alliance. What do you think about that?"
"I understand what you're saying. And I would have supported your word in any other case."
He paused. Hesitating.
"Go on, I started the regular meets because I want to hear the concerns of my people and solve them. If I wanted you all to stay quiet and blindly obey, the previous arrangement worked just fine."
His expression gained determination. "But in our clan, your position is unique. Due to the Yami's Death Trigger. We have opinions but no power. Your word is law. And an unknown Kunoichi influencing your decisions was a risk many of us weren't willing to take. You have a one-track mind, sir, and due to our circumstances, you treat everyone your age as kids. But we have noticed girls approaching you for romance."
I sensed his resentment. And I understood that his concern was valid. Hyuga and Danzo had no such problems. Hyuga married into the clan, and Root didn't give a shit about its shinobis. Only Danzo and the mission.
"I understand your concern now. Let me tell you this much. I do not plan to marry before I turn 18. I will not marry anyone younger than 18. You can put that concern into the future for now. More importantly, I would not be marrying anyone detrimental to the clan. So don't make them act out stupidly, alright?"
He nodded."I will, sir. Raya and Emi might have embellished it, but Hina and Nene genuinely like that. So please keep that in consideration."
"I will."
We walked in silence for a while.
"Haruto, I sensed resentment regarding the Yami. Is it just you or …." It was a touchy subject. Even for me. But we were already in a sharing mood.
"Is it appropriate to talk about that here, sir?"
"Yes, you are right. We'll talk later. We are almost at our destination anyway."
"By the way, who is teaching you all those fancy words and way of speaking?" I wanted to relieve him a bit. He had become too tense.
"Oh, that, that was actually one of the optional lessons Daizen Sensei teaches. Others think they're useless, but I think they might come in handy. I ensure that my whole legion attends them."
So they are feeling the bite of no real specialization, too, huh?
"So your legion feels left behind?"
Haruto spoke up, "No, sir, we will catch up to the others soon enough."
This time, Emiko piped in. "I think we are falling behind." She and Haruto exchanged a tense glance. She was undermining his authority. Gods, this was tiring. It was so much simpler when we started. Now we had politics. I've come to hate politics a bit.
Correction, a lot.
She continued, "We don't have the best talent for fighting like Fall. Nor the scholastic ability or fuinjutsu talent like the Spring and Winter. We are working hard, but the gap seems to be widening with each passing day."
I heard murmurs of assent rising from behind. The other topics were too sensitive. But this concerned them.
"Does the clan head have any ideas on how to bridge this?"
"As a matter of fact. I do. Which I why we are here in the first place."
I gazed far as the hospital came into view.
"As your actions and your little schemes have shown," I paused while they hung their heads, "that your political awareness and street smarts are way above your peers. It was useless before. But now that we're shaping up to be a real Shinobi clan. They become vital. I wanted to turn you into administrators."
They both looked up. As did the rest of them.
"But you cannot be administrators alone. We could hire civilians for that. You do not have talent for bookish learning and Fuinjutsu, so your job will be logistics. Your chakra control is better than most in the village. You know what else needs Chakra Control?"
I raised my hand and pointed to the hospital behind me.
"You all will train to become medical shinobis instead of Fuinjutsu masters. I have seen you practice. I believe you all will be able to do this. You will study etiquette and war strategies."
"But you will learn to be independent. Your training in basic fighting will not be compromised. But unlike Daichi, who I will train in offensive seals. You will be medics and my admins who will be deployed with the other squads. Basically, I will be changing the squad size to five. A medic from your legion will be deployed whenever a squad of ours goes out. He will know geography, politics, and medical jutsu so that the team is prepared for anything. You won't be captains, mind you. Just support. Do you all understand?"
I know, I know. I was ripping off Tsunade's idea. But that's the thing about being a clan head. You can modify your squads however you like.