Hiruko leaned in, his voice a deliberate whisper that carried across the silent room. "Right? Just like how you begged me last night..."
"Enough!" Maki's finger snapped toward Hiruko, her small face flushed with a mixture of fury and humiliation. Pakura was like a mother to her; seeing her shamed like this was unbearable. "Let go of Master!"
Smash! The wine glass Pakura was holding shattered against the floor.
"Maki, watch your tongue!" Chiyo barked, her brow furrowing as she glanced at the girl. She was beginning to wonder if bringing Maki along had been a strategic blunder.
"Voluntary?" Pakura's voice was like ice. "Did you ever ask for my 'volunteers' when you turned me into a sacrificial pawn for the village?"
Chiyo merely snorted, offering no rebuttal. The air in the room grew heavy, prompting Hiruko to step in as the "peacemaker" to de-escalate the tension. He harbored no personal hatred toward the Sand; in fact, his grand blueprint required the Hidden Sand to serve as a successful model for the rest of the world.
The banquet ended on a sour note due to the confrontation, but the private talk between Chiyo and Hiruko had actually gone quite well. Hiruko intended to provide some "assistance" to the Sand. Naturally, Maki was to remain behind as a "maid"—a living bridge between the Leaf and the Sand.
As night fell, Hiruko granted Pakura a "night off" from her usual duties, though Nohara Rin was assigned to keep a constant eye on her. As for Maki, because of her outburst, she would have to wait until Hiruko was in a better mood before being allowed to see her master.
Taming a beast requires more than just violence, Hiruko mused. The carrot and the stick are the true essentials.
Over the next seven days, negotiations between the Leaf and the Sand reached a fever pitch. Resources were swapped, and trade agreements were drafted. Following Hiruko's private suggestion, Minato Namikaze threw the Sand a few "sweeteners" to seal the deal.
And then came the unthinkable: a proposal for a political marriage.
Even in the shinobi world, marriage was the go-to tool for cementing alliances. In the original timeline (as Hiruko remembered it), when the Konoha Crush plan failed, marriage was often discussed to mend fences—most notably the eventual union between Temari and Shikamaru.
But no one, not even Minato, expected the target of this marriage to be Hiruko. While he was brilliant, he wasn't part of the core political circle. The match felt bizarre from every angle.
Konoha was struggling to find a suitable candidate. Kakashi was currently walking around with a face as grim as a funeral, completely detached from village affairs. Asuma was out of the question; given his mother's age, forcing him into a political marriage would be throwing the Sarutobi lineage into a pit—Hiruzen would never allow it. And Minato? He was already a happily married man.
Just as the leaders were reaching a stalemate, Hiruko suddenly slammed his hand on the table, his eyes gleaming with a sudden inspiration.
"I've got it! Why don't we just have the Third Hokage and Lady Chiyo get married?"
"WHAT?!" "HUH?!" "EH?!"
Every person in the room stared at Hiruko in sheer disbelief. Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at him as if he had grown a second head. "What? You want me to marry Chiyo?"
When we look confused, it's not because we don't understand—it's because your idea is certifiably insane!
Chiyo herself wondered if Hiruko's brain had finally melted from too much laboratory radiation. But Hiruko was dead serious.
In his logic, they were both venerable elders with immense influence. A union between them would practically merge the interests of the two villages. Plus, neither could have children, so there were no messy inheritance issues to worry about.
The most violent reaction, predictably, came from Biwako Sarutobi, the Third's current wife. And then there was Asuma—who would be thrilled about getting a "stepmother" who used to try and kill his comrades?
Despite the absurdity, Hiruko believed that once the cold logic of survival set in, the Third might actually consider it.
However, the other high-ranking officials were more concerned with the economic fallout. If an alliance—marital or otherwise—was formed, Konoha would have to share its mission pool.
In the traditional shinobi world, missions were the only source of income. "Easy" missions with high pay were rare. If the Sand gained access to the Land of Fire's mission requests, they would undercut the Leaf's prices, leading to a "race to the bottom" and massive internal competition (Involution).
The Leaf elders weren't about to let their gold mines be shared just for the sake of a wedding. Marrying Chiyo would effectively mean using Konoha's treasury to keep the Sand afloat—a bitter pill the elites refused to swallow.
Yet, every rule has an exception...
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