Peace or Armistice (4)

The return back home was a slow one.

Not due to logistics that is, and I was offered by Madara a quick trip to Konoha if I wanted but I had to politely decline that entire line of action despite the interest in getting out of the battlefield at once. I had some duties I had yet to fulfill since I had yet to be fully discharged from my role. The one that really delayed my quick return was tied to my interest in getting the rest of my group prepared for a smooth arrival. Sure, I might have been able to stabilize issues tied to Reira, Seitaro and Hirotada, but that didn't exclude the general concern I had towards the whole group's capacity to manage to safely revert back to their peacetime self. Believing they were all going to be fine was quite a massive hope, especially with how paranoid and jumpy the war made us all being in a normal situation.

Which is why I was also worried about myself being able to hold back the very paranoia that had led me so well during the conflict. What if, one day, I woke up to a loud noise that triggered some unwanted memories and… made me do some stupid stuff? I really needed to find a way to get this very problematic possibility solved before I outright went back to mostly civilian life. I was still a ninja, but I doubted the Hokage was going to employ kids on missions outside the village just yet. Not until the war weariness has settled down and he could safely get the regular pattern applied back to the mission-delivering standard. Not a stupid decision, but one that still lacked any intervention to handle the eventual PTSD the war had left in some of us. I didn't blame Hashirama for believing that parents could handle it, since this was the standard since the warring states. But the problem was that this war had been way more vicious than any skirmish or campaign unfolding during that era. We were the first generation of soldiers of a brand new period of combat and we had seen some crazy shit there.

Even asking Matatabi if she had ever seen or even heard of this kind of conflict would result in her merely pointing out that each generation of humans developed more 'creative ways to kill each other'. So yes, this was a novelty from what she was more aware about, but it didn't leave her particularly surprised due to her personal grasp over the matter. Which, in return, left me to wonder if preventing a follow-up war could be possible if I managed to do my best to create a solid alliance. I doubted Iwa was going to join in, but I could at least do something to cement relations with Suna and maybe win an alliance with Kumo. Kiri was soon going to be an unpredictable variable due to how warped the leadership really was from common reality. Too insane when it came to training ninja, too boisterous, too prideful… too dependent on fish trade to really try anything funny without having to face the Uzushiogakure's stronger fleet.

Still, back to my troops' mental health, I quickly realized some had indeed developed a form of attachment that transcended mere subordination to a leader. Some people legitimately were keen to follow me from hell and back despite the fact the war was over and, once back home, I would have to give up my rank to approve the return to peacetime. In particular, the one I should have been more aware about when it came to this possibility was none other than Kosuke himself. The brunet was incredibly devoted and absolutely faithful towards me. I would hold back to call it zealotry in the making, but he was definitely going to stick around and keep me a few steps above his current life's worth. Which, in peacetime's circumstances, was bad for him and me and I planned to deal with this as soon as we were back home and I was able to use the excuse of training together to 'disarm his capacity to become a menace for everyone if dealt with wrongly'. Yoshiko was the least problematic one since she saw little on the field and what she saw mostly hardened her against the concept of war itself. If before she thought that maybe there was something good about it, the deadly experience Kagami got out of the final days showed her how this wasn't the case. Blessed be the little redhead's soul for getting spared from the full brunt of this shitty reality.

I managed to prepare dealing with others with the same mindset by requiring therapy sessions for them. We had some doctors that were specializing in this kind of subject, and I wanted them to just vent on them and rant out their problems instead of using those to fuel their capacity to submit their will to mine. I might be planning to eventually create a lite Root-like organization, but I was more interested in fleshing out my civilian ventures and getting my diplomatic efforts completed successfully in the range of a few years. I had a limited schedule, but I had plans to secure Suna's friendship for good as I knew their plight was far from solved with the new lands acquired, but it provided for a good reason to further expand Konoha's willingness to help them out with this agricultural crisis.

After roughly five days of marching south after getting shipped out of the Land of Lightning and back into the Land of Fire's closest port city, the large section of the army I was in charge was finally back home and… our return was met with a massive warm welcome from the entire village. Parents, siblings, relatives, families, and friends- everyone was there to greet the tired army with open arms and put an end to their service for good. The war was now officially over for us and… I proceeded to walk up to the Hokage. Sided by both Madara on the left and Tobirama on the right. I could see Mito slightly behind them, holding two small babies in her arms. I had to hold a small grin when I noticed that Kurama was visible from the mountain and he was staring- no, glaring at the origin of smugness coming from my right shoulder. I should have sent a letter to prepare him for this surprise but… I genuinely forgot about it.

But where is mother?

"Shimura-san," Hashirama greeted me calmly. "Konohagakure welcomes back you and your detachment. Welcome home."

I nodded, kneeling down. "Hokage-dono. We're back home."

His smile faltered a little at my dull tone on the matter. I really felt tired at that point and I really didn't feel up to keeping up any pretenses of being well at the moment. And he sure noticed as he nodded at me and sighed.

"Shimura-san, please stand."

I nodded, slowly standing up again.

"Your actions in this war proved a gifted mind within you that aided your actions meant for the sake of protecting others while furthering your village's interests in this conflict. You fought fiercely and gave more than what was asked from you, and the same applies to all those that were below you in the hierarchy, always offering your best against all adversities. For this, Konohagakure welcomes you as heroes."

"Thank you, Hokage-dono," I replied quietly and he sighed.

"As such, I will relinquish all of you of the military rank of Rikugun-Chuui and thereby grant you the ninja rank of Tokubetsu Jounin. Congratulations."

I nodded again, managing a smile this time as I saw people all around applauding my achievement. I wasn't exactly a guy that liked to be this much in the spotlight, but I could tell this wasn't avoidable and so I held a strong outlook while the Hokage went on to announce how the rest of the army could check on a list that had been published just recently that announced their current ranks within the new system he, Tobirama and Madara had come up with. Much to my surprise, there weren't just three main ranks with minor exceptions like the Tokubetsu sub-rank, but actually 'Grades' for each of the three main ranks. The reasoning was that using just three types of ranks could create trouble in properly differing a high-tier Genin from a new ninja. And much to my greater surprise, it was actually Madara that pointed this one element out.

There was much to say about this, but my current subject of attention was someone that was waiting directly behind the Hokage, which I only noticed when the man finally took a few steps forward and gave me clear vision over her. Mom was there, barely holding herself composed as she waited for the chance to act. And I was shocked by this little surprise. I glanced at the Hokage, and I saw Hashirama nod in my direction, granting me permission to break from the formality and finally greet my mother. I walked up to her, slowly, unsure and… so tired. I would have expected for the bed back home to be the place where I would have found peace and rest after so long, but the moment I felt two arms kindly and kindly holding me so tenderly, I couldn't help but feel finally… at home.

"You did good, little strong man," She greeted me so quietly and yet so intensely, with her words someone striking something deep within my mind and… I recalled one moment in the past I had for so long forgotten. Not because I hated it, nor because I found it unimportant. It's… it's just that I found that memory in particular quite unusual compared to the many different ones that I had of my own childhood. Because yes, for some mysterious reason, my 'new' mom had just used a term my 'previous' mom tended to use when I was a child. And it reminded me of the time I was first told of it.

The time when I went back home with a black eye at the ripe age of eight. There had been a little brawl at school at the time, I had been involved in the first blows, and… my mother had been reported on the matter. Despite my immense worries, the woman decided to ask me what happened. Because she knew I wasn't going to lie to her. Of course, I lied to her in the past regarding small things. But this big one? The one that left me with a black eye? I was a kid and honesty wasn't exactly something I had yet discovered could be weaved into half-truths and I spoke up truthfully when she asked for it. Big kid harassed a small kid. Small kid was one of my first friends. I got angry and told the big kid to stop it. Big kid merely pushed me back, which was a bigger deal than it sounded considering the difference in frame we had. At the time I had a temper, not a big one, but just enough to get me embroiled in some silly antics once in a while. And right there… I was angry. I just returned the push, which in return got me the punch that left me the black eye and… I could proudly say I didn't get any other injury after that. But I left plenty on the other kid for what he did. I was a vicious little pest back there but… yeah, I was still in the wrong regardless of the context. I applied Machiavelli and then amped things up by ten.

Still, mom listened and tensed just a few moments through the entire narration before she picked me up, set me in a hug and huffed tiredly.

"I suppose you are still a Bivone, through and through. Grandpa Sal would probably be proud of you if… he was there."

Oh yes, Grandpa Sal was the closest relative that could have matched with my general personality, and even now I was sure the guy and I would share lovely conversations… if he hadn't died before I was born. That very idea left me perplexed over what could have been but… it wasn't important right now. Not when I was getting my first hug from my new mom since I left for war. I couldn't help but feel guilty for thinking about something else while busy in that hugging, and yet… I managed to hold myself together from behaving too awkwardly. So, with that little connection between the two mother figures, I could only hug her tighter and sigh.

Yep, I'm back home for real now…

A week passed since our return to Konohagakure and the full demobilization had concluded just two days early. The village suddenly found itself standing in a pleasant side of history where traders from independent villages were keen to seek out Konoha and its allies as the main trade hubs for winning such a gruesome war. Some of the ninja, the oldest ones, managed to find retirement through demobilization and were given the opportunity to find civilian jobs, mostly in the farms the Shimura Clan owned.

Yep, the post-war period was starting great, but I wasn't in the mood to allow any economic crisis to unfold just out of satisfaction with the current situation. I had plans of expansions in that regard, making sure to save up money for the sake of trying to heal up any crisis before it would escalate into something more worrying to face with any resurgent nation. With the arrival of caravans from more distant parts of the world, so did a major flow of people trying to settle down in the 'best conditions'. More people meant expansion of housing, expansion of the workforce, and expansion of the education system.

With the implementation of some of the retired ninjas as part of the teachers' staff, the Academy had the chance to finally start accepting civilian-born Shinobi and Kunoichi into the system. Which created a bit of friction between Madara and Tobirama regarding… what to do about the growing civilian class within the village. Madara excluded the necessity of creating a council, while the Hokage's younger brother was keen to give representation to the civilians. I just didn't see the need to make pointless bickering and I would have sided with Madara considering there wasn't a serious call for that kind of reform. The village was working fine, and I knew that Tobirama was just trying to set up a system that prevented unfit Hokage from getting the chance of ruining the village.

Which was smart but… also wrong since giving the civilians powers meant pissing off those that wanted to keep the status quo AND the Shinobi Clans that had for so long enjoyed the privilege of being the 'seconds-in-command' within Konoha. It was detrimental right now to be a bleeding heart for a degree of democracy that was less healthier than it was being presented as and… I decided to send a letter to Hashirama. Nothing too dramatic, passionate, or even telling of what he was going to do. Just a simple advice I could easily tell by the next few days that he was planning to follow due to how smart and cautious it was.

'Wait and see for five years, meanwhile study the matter on your own with people you can trust'. It isn't a direct quote, but it's the informal summary of what was written on the paper. The idea of adding a new element within the administration wasn't bad, but I could tell the best way right now to have it work would be to create a bicameral council where the main purpose is to advise for the time being. It was the smartest route and it founded the solid footing for then a more complicated but also self-limited council that didn't become the one that screwed things in the original timeline. Still, that entire reform package was put on the back-burner for the time being and so I used this freedom to actually work on myself.

Training finally resumed properly and I was given the chance to develop my little projects regarding the Rasenshuriken and… something else that I was 'borrowing' from another series which technically could be used with Chakra too. Except this last one wasn't going to be available to me anytime soon due to the fact I would still have to 'develop the hand seals for it'. And yes, there were a lot of hand seals considering the kind of madness I was trying to employ in future fights. While I 'took my time about it', Madara gave me a rougher schedule to adapt to so I could hone my war-born grasp of fighting into a more 'peaceful' setting. It didn't sound like much, but it meant being able to know when to be jumpy and when not to be a paranoid little turd.

The training session were alternated between me being taught by Madara himself, me training with others like Hiruzen, Kagami, Yoshiko, Reira and Kosuke… plus a couple of others former subordinates that just wanted to train 'under their brilliant leader' or something of that kind AND me making sure that Madara didn't exploit the few occasions he called 'sick' to actually try and date my mother. I was so hellbent about it that eventually mom caught on the fact I was actively harassing the head of the Uchiha Clan. Which led to a lecture which only got me even more vicious and subtler with my approach and… eventually got me with a harsher training schedule. Madara knew he was fighting me at this point and it was an open but also close brawl between us. I couldn't help but feel it was a slow defeat on my side considering how busy I was getting all the time.

It didn't help that Hirotada, now back to his clan and displaying great skills through the war, decided to voice to his father his own consent to… be open for Himeko to find a suitor this early on. They didn't make my name clear, but I realized how Himeko was now older, curvier and terribly patient. As in she was keen to keep her clumsy nature, but surprisingly enough didn't show any indication that she was romantically interested in me. At least not without overcoating any gesture one would normally attribute to romance with friendship. And that managed to 'work' as it enabled me to be as dense as humanly possible without sounding like a complete moron. But it definitely didn't work when it came to people like Yoshiko and… Reira. Reira's trouble, as far as I could tell, was more on the offset chance of getting put aside as a friend. That coupled with the fact Himeko was a Hyuuga really made things… complicated for her to just 'roll with it'. It didn't help that her jumpy moments were just barely getting any better after a week, but she was definitely making some progress. Small progress. And I had to keep her around for the sake of not leaving her in a volatile state of mind.

Finally, the situation with the two Bijuus got to a quite bizarre development when both Matatabi and Kurama decided that, instead of battling it out and raze Konoha for the sake of showing off who was the 'better Bijuu', they just engaged in unusual challenges that revolved around getting praised or 'loved' by people. Me in particular as I was the one they could approach with a safer method. Belly-rubbing, head-scratching, sitting on my shoulder the most time without complaining- this was definitely taking the cake when it came to crazy shit I expected from the two of them. Then again, couldn't lament the fact they weren't burning Konoha to prove such a stupid point. It was clear Kurama was the best at getting head-scratched and Matatabi was more prone to safer and cuter belly-rubbing. All in all, a mess but an adorable and mostly harmless one.

Still, there was one thing that I had delayed for so long to check and that was… the summoning scroll. Not because I forgot about it, but rather because I wanted to be prepared about it. Since it was a blank one, by what I could find on this matter, it meant that I was going to be taken to the one section of the summoning world which best represented… me? My soul? The books weren't that quick to explain where the hell I was going, but I got a few hopes that it either was something powerful but also support-based in most part. It would compliment my style and provide me with the edge in future combat.

Standing alone in the middle of one of the few available training grounds, I swiftly managed to get all preparations set to counter most issues. I had a bag with healing products and other resources like food and snacks in case I ended up in the middle of nowhere for a little while. Ninja tools in good quantity, some sealed techniques and even a seal that could potentially warn Mito that things were going really bad for me. I felt over-prepared for a time, but I still could tell I just wasn't prepared for a few things.

And I was given proof of this just as I bit a little injury on my left thumb, slammed my hand down on the paper and let out a quick 'Kai' to get the seal to work. Good news was that it worked. Bad news was that I realized this when I felt my footing and scroll disappearing as I found myself… falling down a really tall mountain. And by tall, I meant one which tip pierced through the clouds. I tried to look around, feeling gravity doing the fine job of sending me plummeting to a horrible demise. Gulping nervously I tried to reach for some rope and started to bind it on the non-sharp end of one of the kunai I had on myself. Channeling some chakra, I threw the metal projectile at the mountain, allowing it through the strength and momentum to stab it into the stone and… force my fall to end. I reinforced my neck and head with some of the chakra, being well too aware of what happened to Gwen Stacy when she died the first time around and I really didn't need that. Still, my body groaned in slight pain as I was suddenly slammed onto the side of the mountain due to the sudden diversion of the fall's kinetic energy into the swing movement. I felt it all over me and… it didn't stop me from gaining a good grasp of the situation I was in. Somehow I could tell the summons I was looking for were atop the mountain, so I started to climb my way up as if I was some sort of Spider-Ninja.

Chakra applied to feet and hands allowed me to steadily build up a pace and get to destination, albeit drained and somewhat tired due to the cost of pulling that little stunt. Still, I pulled myself over the edge and right to the top of the mountain… where I found a small village of creatures there. Red birds, my half-tired brain commented stupidly, but then I realized these birds had tiny wavy details at the edge of their feathers and how they were spitting fire up in the air while flying. My jaw dropped, and before I could comment on the clear answer to my dilemma, I felt something particularly light land right on my left shoulder and gain my attention with ease. I turned to look at the interaction, my eyes widening even more as said red birb nuzzled giddily at me.

"Hello~!" A young voice chirpily came out of the tiny Phoenix that had perched itself on that common spot for small critters. And it was there that I, a clueless and incredibly eager Danzou Shimura, made a contract with Phoenix Clan and became their first summoner ever.

Plus I got a new frequent percher of my shoulder in the form of this little rambunctious phoenix with a strange obsession with cooked chicken...