C

Chapter 509:

LUNCH

After meeting their respective teams in the morning for training and debrief, the engaged

fivesome met at Kurenai's for lunch. Hinata and Kurenai prepared the meal while Temari,

Ino, and Naruto talked about the coronation as they set the table. They prepared a large

bowl of beef and pork ramen for Naruto, Ino & Temari each enjoy a plate of simple curry rice

with beef and vegetables, and Hinata & Kurenai dug into their salmon salad. When they're

all snacking on the taiyaki Temari brought for dessert, Kurenai reminded everyone of the

meeting with the Hokage in a few hours.

"She'll likely want to know who should be first wife," Temari reasoned.

When they all turned to Naruto, he put down his fish-shaped cake before cautiously asking,

"why does that matter?"

"The title of first wife is more for the outside world than anything," Kurenai answered.

"Yeah, but the first wedding won't be mine," Temari pointed out. "It'll be one of you three."

Turning to Naruto, she added, "When the citizens of Konoha see who you first marry, they'll

simply accept her as the lead wife. And they'll gossip about the others as just maids or filler

wives."

With a squinted face, like he smelled a rancid odor, Naruto expressed, "I don't like that. I

want us all to stand equally in this marriage. Either each one of us matters or none of us do."

Though the four kunoichi appear to appreciate his viewpoint, they're also hesitant when it

comes to the village. Temari explained, "Within the marriage, I'd be happy to live that

philosophy, however, that won't be how the outside world sees it. At best, the few that know

about our union see it as nothing more than a political marriage to quash further fighting. At

worst, they see me as a hostage to be used against Suna."

"That… really pisses me off," Naruto slowly voiced with a serious edge of ire.

"Whomever of us have their wedding first is who the villagers will see as the most

important," Ino begrudgingly claimed. "Then gradually lower their regard with each wife."

"Seriously now, all of this is just pissing me off," Naruto hotly scoffed. "Will they really treat

you guys like crap? I don't care if they do that to me, but not my wives… wow, wives. Crazy."

"It'll take getting used to," Ino cheerily voiced.

From the Kurenai's left, the generally quiet Hinata softly suggested, "ano, would it be okay if

we all… ma-married at the same time?" They all looked at Hinata in mild wonder that

morphed into stunned realization.

"That's not a bad idea," Ino quickly stated as she thought about the possibilities.

"Suna wouldn't mind," Temari commented with a tilted head, also thinking of the idea's

viability. "They already don't like that I'll always be second wife."

Surprised by that, Naruto asked the sandy-blonde, "why didn't you say anything?"

"Because it's not a problem," Temari swiftly answered. "Gaara is in full support of this

marriage and has made that abundantly clear throughout the brass, so everyone's keeping

their opinions to themselves."

Smiling at Hinata, Kurenai remarked, "All four of us marrying at the same time would erase

the hierarchical stigma of a polygamous marriage."

"There can't be a second wife if it's a four-way tie for first," Ino merrily called out. "I'm game!"

Temari added, "And those of a higher authority can't make disparaging comments if there's

only one wedding ceremony."

Just as enthused, Naruto praised, "That's awesome, Hinata-chan!"

The girl blushed and smiled as Kurenai asked the table, "Will two weeks be enough time for

everyone to have our more intimate ceremony?"

When they all thoughtfully nodded, Naruto cheered, "Sweet!"

"Not just yet," Ino told him. "We can plan the wedding, but you have to help, too. There are

bound to be decisions we won't agree on and you'll have to be the deciding factor."

That made Naruto nervous because he innately wanted them all to be happy. He wondered

if anyone could give him some advice but realized he didn't know anyone that might help

with this. Not only were a lot of his friends single—Iruka, Kakashi, Jiraiya, Tsunade, or a

widower, like Ji-chan—but no one in the village has a relationship like his. The closest

person he thought might have an answer was Mabui, but she was much too far away,

making the blond really regrets not giving them a seal he can teleport to. Eventually, Naruto

realized he would just have to figure this out on his own.

THE MEETING

Naruto, Ino, Hinata, Kurenai, and Temari all stood in front of the Godaime Hokage's desk for

several minutes. The wide desktop was already stacked with scrolls and towers of papers.

More papers and books were stacked along the wall behind Tsunade as well. Shizune was

doing her best to organize the most pressing matters first using a color coordination system.

They could smell the paper and ink from where they stood.

Wearing his Chūnin vest underneath his short-sleeved red coat with a black flame pattern

around the hem, Naruto wasn't sure he was going to like this aspect of the job, but Iruka,

Jiraiya, and Karin said that was the bulk job; pushing paper. Naturally, it meant Naruto

wanted it. Tsunade finally slammed down her brush before laying back in the chair and eying

the five at attention in front of her.

She quickly told them, "let's not take too much time. I want a minute to drink some sake."

"Tsunade-sama," Shizune chastised. "You're the Hokage now!"

"If I don't drink something, I won't be for long," an irate Tsunade hurled back.

Naruto pointed out, "Ji-chan told me he smoked all the time because there was no other way

to handle the stress of the job."

"Exactly!" Tsunade happily agreed, and both blonds earned a glare from Shizune.

"We won't take up your valuable time, Hokage-sama," Kurenai began. "We realize you held

off on mentioning the participants of the wedding until you knew the order of Naruto's

weddings."

Kurenai turned to Naruto, who suddenly realized he was meant to take the lead. He nodded,

then casually told his Baachan, "we wanna get married at the same time… all five of us."

"No," Tsunade quickly put down like a heavy hammer, prompting Naruto to demand to know

why. Tsunade rubbed the bridge of her nose for relief and patience that would never be as

good as a bottle of sake. She then answered, "once you do this—all of you—there's no

going back. You all know that Temari has no choice, but neither do the rest of you.

Regardless of what you believe this marriage to be, to the rest of the world, it's a political

marriage. So if one of you leaves, it can have political ramifications, which could result in

something as benign as public embarrassment or—and this is a big one—war. It's unlikely,

but the political landscape could be very different in five or ten years. You can't exclude it."

Looking between Tsunade, Shizune, and the girls, Naruto could tell they're giving it some

thought. It was possible they didn't want to speak their mind in front of the Hokage, but

Naruto's never had that problem. Tsunade's argument made no sense to the blond Chūnin

and so asked, "what does any of that have to do with us getting married? I mean, anyone

can start a war for whatever reason, right? This marriage has nothing to do with anyone else

but us and that's the way it's going to stay."

"I understand that it's real for you, Naruto," Tsunade reassured him. "But that's not the point.

Once you reach a prominent position of power—whether Head of your clan or this very seat

—much of your life will be about compromise, so that the masses can live peacefully. Your

clan is small now, but that won't always be the case. There will come a time when you have

to make decisions you don't like because it's what's best for those you are responsible for."

Even Naruto paused at that, recalling all the clan heads and tradesmen he met at the

coronation banquet.

"Now, I am responsible for the safety of this village," Tsunade continued. "And the protection

of our entire country. The last thing I need is some official from Suna getting tricked again

and using your marriage as an excuse to invalidate our treaty. Any children you have will

then be involved, which adds to the potential of it getting worse."

Chapter 510:

Naruto recognized the same rabbit-hole of logic. He's asked himself what if questions ever

since he was placed as Head of the Uzumaki clan. Then he doubted himself again when his

fiancés wanted to know who would be first wife. He always thought of those that would be

disappointed by his decision and he didn't like it. But then Karin and Haku helped him out so

much, it made meeting the powerful men and women easier. Then, Hinata thought of the five

of them marrying at the same time, making it easier. Naruto realized at that very moment,

Tsunade was feeling the same way.

He broke decorum, walked up to the Hokage's desk, slammed his palms hard on the bit of

space, looked her in the eyes, and told her, "that won't ever happen! Just like you have

Shizune-neechan, Ji-chan, Ero-sennin, and me backing you up in any way you need, I have

Nai-chan, Hinata-chan, Ino-chan, Temari, Gaara, Iruka-sensei, Karin, Haku, and you backing

me up! Just like you, I can't do this by myself, but we don't have to. None of us in this room

wants our marriage to fail or be bad for the village, just like we won't ever give up on our

Hokage. You have my word, I won't let this marriage fail because we'll be doing this together,

as a team! That's the promise of a lifetime!"

Kurenai was the first to kneel on one knee and beg, "please, Hokage-sama." Hinata, Ino,

and Temari are quick to follow and repeat, "please, Hokage-sama!"

Tsunade fell back in her chair again, eying the deep blue of his confident eyes and feeling

stuck, impressed, and frustrated by them. With a bit of a sigh, she tilted her head to Shizune.

The ebony-haired assistant had a slight smile on her face and shrugged as if to say, 'what

are you going to do.' Tsunade told them to get up. "And you get off my desk!" Smirking,

Naruto moved back to stand next to his fiancés. "Fine," the Hokage reluctantly consented.

"However, if at any point between now and the ceremony, any of you—except for Temari—

change your mind, you have both of our blessings to do so."

Her direct look at Naruto when she said, 'both,' made him crunch his brows in confusion as

he asked, "Why are you looking at me?"

Tsunade quickly answered, "because, while I don't believe you're like other men, you're still

a guy and this would be a fantasy come true for any man, to say the least."

"What we got is special because they know I wouldn't love em any less even if we weren't

together," Naruto hotly boasted with no genuine anger. "I don't turn my back on friends just

because they don't marry me."

"Or even when they spear you through the chest," Ino irately recalled, still upset with

Sasuke.

"I still won," an aggrieved Naruto implored, tapping his Chūnin vest underneath his red

Uzumaki coat. "And I'm more firm with him now. I won't let him do whatever he wants

anymore."

Kurenai continued telling the busy leader, "We're all looking forward to being one clan."

"It's as easy as that," Temari tacked on.

With a long sigh, Tsunade rubbed the bridge of her nose before explaining, "I only mean to

say you all have months to think about this. If at any point between now and your wedding

date, any of you decide to change your mind, that's fine."

Kurenai, Temari, Ino, and Hinata turn to Naruto, who recalled explaining, "ah, we also want

to be married in two weeks."

"Two weeks?" Tsunade sat up to repeat. She added, with authority, "Impossible. Planning

the security alone would take longer than that, and we can't have a wedding ceremony

without the Daimyō or whoever they send, who'll take at least three weeks for him and his

entourage to get here."

"What he means is we'd like to have two ceremonies," Kurenai diplomatically stated. "The

larger public one we're expected to have in front of honored guests & countrymen and a

smaller, more intimate one with family and friends. When we go to Kumo, we want to do it as

a family, even if it's just on paper."

"Fine," Tsunade huffed with finality. She turned to Shizune and asked, "can you get the form

for me, please." Shizune walked over to a smaller stack along the wall and pulled out a

notebook-sized form, then handed it to the Hokage. "Since you're all so certain," she began,

making room at the foot of the desk for the legal document. "Go ahead and sign this." She

placed the legal document in the space she created in front of them as she added, "This is

the special marriage contract made by our legal department for the five of you. Most of the

marriage certificates only have space for a single bride and groom, so we had to draw up a

new one for you." The five leaned in to scan the contract when Tsunade added, "that's a

legally binding marriage contract. You don't need your seal. Your names will suffice."

They hesitate at the unexpected turn of events, however, the first of them to move was

Hinata. She took the brush from her Hokage and signed her name under the section for

Bride. Temari followed, signing her name, then Ino, Kurenai, and finally, Naruto under the

Groom section. Tsunade took the brush and signed her name as the officiary. Tsunade then

took out the Hokage's seal and stamped the contract with the bright red emblem of her

office.

Returning her honey-brown eyes to the five in front of her, she stated, "there. Now you've

done everything within your power to be married. You've signed the paper, so technically,

you're all married. Congratulations." Tsunade put the marriage certificate in her desk's safe

and locked it with Fūinjutsu. "However… It's not been processed yet. And I won't send it to

our records department until the day of your ceremony."

Naruto groaned, "you want us to wait all the way until the ceremony to be married?"

"Wait for what?" Tsunade asked the disenchanted boy. "You're already married, aren't you?

Didn't you all sign the paper? Didn't your Hokage sign it as well? And stamp it?"

Temari was brave enough to challenge the Hokage with, "some might call this a legal

loophole."

Tsunade shrugged before asserting, "I'm a very busy lady. Here's the deal. You all want to be

married, fine. Now you are. However, it hasn't been entered in the public record yet and it

will stay that way until the ceremony many, many months from now. If you truly feel married,

fine, great, this won't matter. Move in together for all I care. But if you're not. If this

unexpected turn of events puts you off somehow, if it upsets you, or kills any sort of driving

force or momentum you were feeling, then I want you to seriously think long and hard if this

is truly something you want to do."

While the others were silent in thought, Temari dared to ask, "Why wouldn't it be?"

Turning to the Suna princess, Tsunade astutely pointed out, "I read the transcript of

everything that went down during negotiations, including the questions you answered. I

wouldn't be surprised if you were doing this to get back at your father for essentially

prostituting his own daughter." Temari tightened her fists and couldn't get past the sage

experience behind Tsunade's brown eyes. The Suna daughter remained silent as Tsunade

continued, "If war breaks out just because you two aren't married, then this treaty wasn't

going to last, to begin with."

Respectfully, but a little heated, Kurenai asked, "Are we going to Kumo and lying to the

Raikage?"

"But you're already married," Tsunade answered her Jōnin. "Plus, I'm fairly certain he doesn't

care."

"And if one of us dies?" Ino asked.

"Then quit," the leader of their village tersely spoke. "I'd much rather you live, but the truth is,

any ninja can die any day. It's part of the life we've chosen. It's possible knowing you have a

marriage at the end of six, eight, maybe twelve months will be excellent motivation for all of

you to survive till then." The four girls turned to an unusually silent Naruto as Tsunade

declared with finality, "I'm going to be announcing the engagement to the public next week,

which means every villager, then countrymen, and eventually the world will know your

names. Be prepared because I expect your engagement is going to cause pandemonium on

the streets and a mountain of paperwork for me to deal with."