Chapter 9 – New Era – Old Drinks

Chapter 9 – New Era – Old Drinks

- Aki, where is my brother? You were supposed to accompany him! – my grandfather began to scold me

I silently pointed to a small gazebo where my great-uncle was sipping a Coconut Slide cocktail with his eyes closed and in his other hand he had a hand-rolled cigarette with homemade cherry tobacco. Where are those from, you ask? When we cut out the enemy clan, not only money and other valuables fell into our hands, but also provisions with alcohol. And I asked Masaru to buy tobacco, who was going to the nearest trading city. So when my grandpa Number 2 saw me starting to mix sake with coconut milk and decorate a glass with raspberries and mint, he jokingly said that a good tobacco is the last thing needed to make it perfect combo with such a cocktail, and I didn't think twice about getting cherry tobacco and special paper for hand-rolled cigarettes. After the first sip, my grandfather closed his eyes and continued to savor the taste, so I started rolling him a cigarette.

Having finished with a roll-up, I decided to make my grandfather N2 another Slide. This time Grandfather didn't even ask anything, but just lit a cigarette and slowly sipped the Slide. Well, at least his upbringing did not allow him to shake off the ashes on the floor, otherwise I will clean up as the initiator of this event. Seeing that he was well, I decided to leave him alone, let the man relax after a long road back home. So the old man has been enjoying alcohol and tobacco for the last few minutes.

My grandfather looked at his relaxing brother waved his hand and said that I would guide to assembly house when he was done. A few more minutes passed and Grandpa N2 took the last sip.

- Aki, it was very good and I'm grateful to you – said Kaito with a smile – but I'm a little confused by your knowledge in this area.

- Ha, it just means that I am a man of culture and I like a good relaxatiion, – I replied, assuming a proud look.

- I'll just keep quiet – Kaito whispered massaging his temples.

Feeling that I had won this round of verbal wrestling, I led him inside the assembly hall. Everyone managed to take their places by our arrival so that Kaito's could begin to tell all the news and a short report about those who remained behind the barrier.

Unfortunately, not all the news were good, one of the remaining old men died. He was attacked when he was checking one of the cances. There were too many of robbers, so he brought them inside and sealed them with him. When he didn't show up for a few meetings, Kaito went looking for him and he found a sealed cache full of dead people. The robbers turned out to be some small clan from the land of Stone. After burying the deceased clan member and transferring the treasures from the cache, Kaito paid a visit to the robbers' clan and cut it to zero in a couple of years. He could have done it in a few weeks, but after the failure with the cache, he decided to work leaving a minimum of traces.

The other bad news was that our forced isolation led to the fact that we lost useful connections. But our recent successes have shown that the situation is quite ambiguous and people still remember us. So it's not that bad.

But there was more good news. Most of our caches remained untouched. During the years of isolation, Kaito and the others did not sit idly by and tried to make useful connections with other clans. So if anything happens, we can call on the help of the Aburame and Kurama clans. Another good news was that Kaito somehow managed to buy large plots of land in the south of the country. When asked where he got the money from, he said that he used the money of the destroyed robber clan. Although it was quite expensice endeavour back few years, but he had just enough and his personal reputation helped to resolve all issues faster and with great benefit.

The last good news was that one of the remaining old men during the cleaning of the bandit's lair, he saved some important official from the Tea country. So in the future, our clan will have more contracts in the Tea country. And they have already fulfilled a couple of important contracts for espionage and investigation, which created a positive image in the eyes of all officials of the Tea country, especially after Kaito and the company cleared the main trade routes from robbers, criminals and other scum.

So let's summarize – we have clans that can be considered allies, a lot of fertile land and good connections in the countries of Fire and Tea.

But the most important thing for me was the rumors that the battles between Uchiha and Senju are on the decline and peace talks are sort of going on. So we are looking at the beginning of a new era – the Era of Hidden Villages. We need to make connections with both great clans, I think there will be no problems here, since we ourselves are a noble clan with a good reputation. But our last skirmish with the Sarutobi clan may go sideways for us, especially if I remember correctly that in the future the third Hokage will be Hiruzen motherfucking Sarutobi.

And the problem is that we need to find our economic niche in the future village ecenomy. The main pieces of land will go to the great founding clans, it's not even worth arguing here. Restaurants and pubs will be under Akimichi and Nara. Flower business to the blondes of Yamanaka. Tobacco and the main trade flow will be under Sarutobi. I don't even remember what about the other clans, but I'm sure they definitely have their own niches. Only weapons and armor come to mind, but we don't have enough blacksmiths, and the clan won't understand my idea that we share clan practices-secrets with anyone, even if we live in the same village.

While I was deep in my thoughts, the grandfathers finished discussing the news, casting glances in my direction, wondering the reason for my silence. Only when everyone was getting ready to go out, grandfather came up and started pulling me by the shoulder, pulling me out of my thoughts.

- Oh, yeah? Grandpa, is it over yet? - I asked.

- Yes, Aki. What are you thinking about? – said Grandpa – You are so lost in yourself that you stopped listening. You might have missed important details.

- No, I just started thinking about our future, especially when big changes begin. – I answered, starting to think about how to use the knowledge of the future for the benefit of the clan.

- What do you mean? Do you want to say that you see what has passed unnoticed by our eyes? - Kaito asked with a laugh.

- Actually, yes. It does not surprise you that after so many years of mutual bloodshed, even such clans as Uchiha and Senju begin to strive for peace and are ready to leave past grievances. – I threw a fishing rod

- Hmm, if you look at the situation like that, then yes. This is very unusual. But that's not enough. Maybe they just want to conclude a temporary truce for the sake of respite? - Grandfather answered doubtfully.

- Grandfather Kaito, what do you think? After all, you brought us this news. – I turned to my Grandpa N2.

- You know, maybe you're right. But we don't have enough information..- Kaito stopped abruptly.

- So you can find out more from both clans. We have a neutral reputation in their eyes. No one will think that we are spies of the enemy side because we had no ties with them and for the last few years we have disappeared altogether. – I tried to speak as confidently as possible.

- There is logic in your words. Okay, we'll discuss your idea again and if there are no particular objections, then we can try. – the grandfather answered, assuming the pose of a philosopher.

- And now I have something to talk about with my brother. So please bring us a couple of bottles of sake. - Kaito said, hinting that this conversation is not for children's ears to listen to.

Yeah, apparently we're going to have a fun night thanks to the meeting of a couple of old drunks. Oh well, enough grumbling of . I just hope that they won't make me garson-errand boy for the whole night. I'm still a growing young organism and I need sleep.

If I had only known that I would be a waiter all night, I would have broken all the bottles of alcohol and broken Grandfather's Shamisen. Well, never mind, let's see what Mrs. Hangover will do to you, damn drunks.

Interlude

Slowly drinking a bottle of sake, the brothers told each other about their life after parting.

- Yes, your premature return has confused my cards. I was counting on at least one more year, but..." - said Kaito.

- We ourselves were surprised when we noticed the first cracks, although the rate of decay of the barrier was predictable. - Daiki replied with a sigh, fiddling with a small rosary.

- When I found out about your adventures I was too far away so I arrived just now. The rest will arrive later, we need to finish checking the caches and bring the most valuable relics. – Kaito said frowning before knocking over a flat cup of sake.

- Yes, difficult times are coming. And those words of the grandson about the changes only added headache. If he had been a dozen years older, I would have thrown everything on him. - Daiki said, sighing bitterly. – I get tired of pulling everything on my back.

- His words still stick in my head. You know, I'll still try to find out more. Maybe something worthwhile will come out of this. Okay, we'll talk about business later. It's better to tell me how your progress in poetry is – Kaito asked with a grin and the answer was a choking brother.

Drinking sake and exchanging taunts, the brothers talked until the morning.

The end of the interlude

In the morning, despite the sleepless night, the elders began to form detachments of parliamentarians to the great clans, at the same time sending several scouts to other clans. Knowledge in these difficult times is much more valuable than gold, especially when your future depends on it.

P.S Coconut Slide