Interlude: New Beginnings

"Do you allow everyone in the Land of Iron to learn Ninshū, or just the Samurai?" Daisuke asked, bright eyed and grinning as he placed yet another book to the side after having flipped through it at a pace Mifune thought ridiculous.

"Everyone," Mifune answered truthfully with a slow and careful nod. "Though only the Samurai are trained for war."

Daisuke hummed and his eyes squinted in thought. "Have you thought about trying to spread it outside the Land of Iron?"

"The topic has come up occasionally," Mifune explained neutrally. In truth, trying to spread the ways of Ninshū outside of the Land of Iron was nothing more than a pipedream. "But so long as the Hidden Villages and the Daimyo are working in tandem to suppress such learning inside their borders, I'm afraid it won't be possible."

"I haven't done as much research into the topic as perhaps I should've," Daisuke said, turning in his chair to face the Shogun. "I knew it was forbidden to learn about chakra outside of the village, but I didn't know that it was the Daimyo's lawmen cracking down on the idea."

"How did you think they enforced the law?" Mifune asked with a raised eyebrow.

Daisuke shrugged. "I didn't think about it, honestly. I've had other things on my mind."

"So now that you've learned about Ninshu, why are you here?" Mifune asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You want to spread Ninshu everywhere," Daisuke explained. "I want to help you do it."

"If we were to start expanding, we would risk war with the Shinobi villages," Mifune explained emphatically. "We might have superior soldiers, but we do not have the resources to withstand a war against five major nations."

"F-uh…" Daisuke began before catching himself. "I see your point."

"What were you going to say?" Mifune asked as his eyes narrowed.

Daisuke almost covered up his wince. "That you'd really only have to go to war with four nations, not five. Kirigakure is an absolute bloody mess thanks to the civil war. It's a stupid thing to point out though, since your point still stands."

"I see," Mifune responded. "I wasn't aware of that, thank you for sharing."

"No problem," Daisuke nodded. "But you're point still stands and I'd like to help you guys figure out a way around that."

Mifune shifted his mustache to the left and to the right. "Why?"

"Why not?" Daisuke asked with a frown.

"Why not? You coming to us and offering to help us subvert the law of your homeland is treason," Mifune explained evenly. "This is after you showed at the exact right time to save us from certain death with an almost trivial amount of effort."

The young man said nothing, looking at Mifune like he was waiting for him to continue.

So he did. "Certain death that grew in a lab. Creatures that were faster, stronger and more devious than anything I've seen before in a wild animal and you beat them with almost no effort. You say you've seen the labs creatures like this have grown in. Do you see my problem?"

Daisuke made to say something, starting to point, then his mouth glued shut. Finally, he said quietly. "Yeah, I can see why that's very suspicious."

"So, answer my question then," Mifune said, only barely holding back his glare. "Why are you trying to do this?"

Daisuke stayed quiet, looking up, then down, then to the sides. "Alright, I'll explain why as best I can. I've got a bunch of reasons to turn on Konoha, some general, some personal, others miscellaneous. If you want to hear them."

"I've got all day," Mifune explained.

"Well, the first reason is that the Elemental Nations are headed toward war. This is the fourth one in a row," Daisuke began, placing his hands together. "The wheels are already turning, the people are turning into sharks that smell blood in the water. Unless someone gets in the way and stops it or turns it in another direction, we're going to another blood bath and this one is going to be worse. If this continues, humanity will go extinct. We don't want this."

"A noble goal," Mifune nodded. "But that's not the only one."

"Descending on the road from noble, there's the case that the Hidden Villages, each of them, don't handle any problems until they're paid to," Daisuke said with a frown. "I want to arm the general populace, the civilians, so that they can defend themselves and they won't have to spend an exorbitant amount of money just so they could get a criminal infestation taken care of."

"They don't get involved until they get hired as a result of the treaties that allowed the formation of the villages in the first place," Mifune objected. "That was one of the terms."

Daisuke scoffed. "If the village really cared, they'd renegotiate the treaty. Not like the Daimyo could object either, they've got almost all the military power in the Land of Fire His most trusted bodyguards all come from the village and they know where their loyalties lie."

"Have you suggested that they renegotiate?" Mifune asked with a raised eyebrow.

Daisuke paused for a second to answer. "…no. But they won't."

"How can you be sure?" Mifune asked with a frown.

"Well, for one that would be asking the village to renegotiate the deal to let them take on free work," Daisuke responded. "Which would end up with them either doing work for nothing or doing work that winds up killing a fairly good paying mission down the line. If we negotiate for a cut of the taxes for the work being done, the money they'd take in would overall be less. We're talking a constant flow of income between D and C rank for what might turn out to be an A or S rank. Otherwise, the Daimyo would go broke and the Land of Fire would see ruin. Right now, it's stable. Really bad, but stable."

"I see," Mifune replied. "And you think that the spread of Ninshu would alleviate this problem."

"Oh, I know it will," Daisuke nodded. "Think of it like this – a predatory animal will fight but can be fought off. A herbivore will fight as if it's life depends on it every single time. Because it does. The predator is any criminal who parasites off of people who live legitimately. The Herbivore is the person who lives legitimately. It'd work especially well if the towns organize their own town guard, but I'm getting ahead of myself."

"You'd be arming each village against their Daimyo," Mifune stated incredulously, to Daisuke's annoyed sigh. "There is no way any Daimyo would go for this."

"Of course, they wouldn't," Daisuke replied with a neutral expression. "It's much easier to hold onto power when your subjects can't meaningfully protest injustices in their court. That's why both the Kage and the Daimyo agree that chakra should not be spread outside the villages. The Kage don't want competitors getting root in their land, the Daimyo don't want their subjects armed, essentially."

"So, you wish for war with the Daimyo," Mifune asked with a probing gaze.

"No, that's the exact opposite of what I want," Daisuke's eyes narrowed to match. "I want to make their current system of government obsolete."

"Which will cause war," Mifune stated with a frown. "You say you don't want war, but that will cause it. The Land of Iron will not jump into a war with the Elemental Nations to support a pipe dream. We are neutral. It is how we have survived."

"It won't cause war, I can promise you that," Daisuke said with a placating gesture.

"How do you figure that?" Mifune asked with a raised eyebrow.

Daisuke made to speak again but stopped. "You know, let me get back to you on that."

"I would rather we drop the subject entirely," Mifune grumbled with a raised eyebrow. "Now, if you really wanted to help us, you could join us. You are very capable, you know how Shinobi operate and you've already saved my life once. There will not be any objection."

"A tempting offer," Daisuke replied, pressing his lips into a line. "But I'm not switching countries until you've got a plan you can act on to spread Ninshū to the world."

"I'm afraid that's impossible," Mifune sighed. "The current climate of the elemental nations has made this impossible. The only reason they haven't marched on the Land of Iron en masse is because we're not a threat to them, militarily, economically or socially."

"But don't you want to see the day where Iron doesn't need to worry or fear that the Shinobi just up and decide to roll them over with superior numbers and dishonorable tactics?" Daisuke asked with pleading eyes. "Don't you want to spread what you've got to the world?"

"Of course, I do," Mifune replied with a sad frown. "But we don't have the manpower to even come close to deterring them should we begin to look like a threat. The only thing we have is our reputation."

"It's a pretty fierce reputation," Daisuke replied thoughtfully. "Alright, I'll be back with an answer to your question."

He looked like he was about to do something, then stopped it. "Er…sorry, I forgot you didn't want me to just teleport in and out like I do back at the village."

"Thank you for remembering," Mifune replied, holding back a sigh.

"Naruto-kun?" Sakura began, walking up to him.

"Huh?" Naruto dropped his stance. He was sparring with a clone, who also dropped his stance. He was standing in training ground three, practicing and training as had become his ritual. "What is it Sakura?"

"Well…" She began, eyes going off to the side, her toes flexing and disturbing the dirt beneath her feet. "I need you to stop being so hard on Ino-chan."

"Why?" Naruto and his clone asked immediately. With a flash of irritation, Naruto dismissed the clone. "I don't trust her."

"I know you don't," Sakura closed her eyes and her brow started twitching in annoyance. "But that doesn't mean you have to watch her like she might turn into a snake at any second."

"I don't look at her like that," Naruto glared at her.

"Yes, you do," Sakura sighed in annoyance. "It's getting annoying. How is she supposed to prove she's changed, and she has, if you won't ever give her a chance?"

"I am giving her a chance," Naruto objected, folding his arms. "I'm just watching her carefully so that if she screws up, I can call her out on it."

"You mean you're waiting for her to make a small mistake so you can justify your treatment of her," Sakura corrected, similarly folding her arms. "She wasn't ever a bully, Naruto."

"Yes, she was," Naruto grumbled, looking to the side. "She called you 'Billboard Brow all the time. Making fun of your pretty forehead wasn't cool."

"And I called her 'Ino-pig' in return," Sakura explained with a small frown. "It wasn't bullying, Naruto. It was a rivalry. Mutual competition. It wasn't healthy at all for either of us and we stopped our friendship over it, but it wasn't like I was some poor abused victim or anything."

"I never thought you were," Naruto replied quietly, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. "I just…you know, thought it was a scummy thing to do to suddenly turn on you when you had been friends forever."

"That was our choice," Sakura explained. "We both agreed to stop our friendship to fight over Sasuke. Did you really think she had stabbed me in the back?"

"Kind of, yeah."

"Well, that explains a lot," Sakura sighed. "Well, she didn't and we're friends again. Now can you stop being…"

"Yeah, I guess so," Naruto grumbled, looking at the dirt. "…I kind of owe her an apology, don't I?"

"I think it'd be a good start," Sakura answered with a nod.

"Oh boy," Naruto said, kicking the dirt. "Alright, I'll take care of it today."

"Thank you," Sakura said with a relieved smile. "She'll be so glad to hear it."

"Yeah…hey, by the way," Naruto started. "I wanted to say thank you for tutoring me in Chakra Control. You know, before we all got abducted by fish people in the sewers? It's really helped a lot."

"Huh? Oh, right!" Sakura's face lit up in recollection. "Yeah, I remember that. You're welcome."

"And I was wondering, you know…if you know, if you were still trying to date Sasuke," Naruto started quietly. "Because if…er…you know, I just wanted to know."

Sakura let out a long breath. "You still haven't given up, huh?"

"Nope!" Naruto said with a grin. "But, you know, I wanted to respect your decision, so I eased off."

"Well, to answer your question, I've learned that," Sakura let out another long breath. "Sasuke is un-dateable."

"Why is that?" Naruto asked, feigning surprise.

"He's just not interested. At all," Sakura explained with a depressed expression. "He just considers and kind of dating or even hanging out as a pointless distraction."

"Hm. I'm sorry to hear that," Naruto replied with a sympathetic frown.

"You already knew, huh?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah," Naruto nodded. "We talked a few days ago about his issues. He isn't going to be in the game for a long, long time."

"Why, what did he tell you?" Sakura asked, looking concerned.

"I'd like to tell you," Naruto began. "But I can't. Wouldn't be right."

"Okay," Sakura deflated. "Well, at least he's starting to come out of his shell. Sort of."

"Yeah, it's a good thing," Naruto said with a smile. "So, uh, I don't want to sound like I'm just trying to catch you on the rebound, but…"

Sakura let out an annoyed and somewhat defeated sigh. "You are really persistent, you know that?"

"Just one date," Naruto said quickly. "Like a picnic or something. You're really smart and really pretty and that makes you awesome and I'd really like to get to know you better."

Sakura was quiet for a second. "When did you want to do this?"

"Next Saturday at noon," Naruto nodded quickly. "It'll be the best picnic ever. Believe it!"

"Alright," Sakura finally said. "Alright, I'll go on a picnic with you. Just this once, alright?"

"Yes!" Naruto's face lit up like he had just won the lottery, throwing his hands into the air with triumphant glee. "Wooo! Yeah-haha! Yes, yes, yes!"

"Now can you answer me one question?" Sakura asked, almost hiding her amused smile.

"Sure!"

"Does Ino have a chance?" Sakura asked. "An actual chance at some point of convincing Daisuke that she's the one for him?"

Naruto shrugged. "I dunno. She's got a way better chance than Hisako does, though."

"She does?" Sakura asked with a surprised blink.

"Uh-huh," Naruto nodded.

"And why is that?" Sakura asked.

"Eh, she's desperate," Naruto replied.

"Desperate," Sakura repeated.

"Yup, desperate," Naruto nodded again. "She's really lonely and she's latched onto Daisuke as her one true hope at not being lonely. Her crush is more about her issues than anything and it's a pretty big turn off, something that Daisuke was able to pick up on way before his got his social issues fixed. Kind of reminds me of me, actually."

"That's…sad, actually," Sakura said with a frown. "She needs more friends."

"I think she needs her parents to not go out on missions so much," Naruto replied with a frown. "The reason she's lonely is because they're both gone. All the time."

"Yeah, I wouldn't know what I'd do if both my parents were always gone," Sakura said with a frown. "But…you'd know, huh? Being an orphan?"

"Yeah," Naruto said contemplatively. "Yeah, I do know. At least I had Daisuke for most of it, though. So happy nothing I ever did made him mad…well, not beyond winning at the training exercise, but he got over that pretty quickly. Anyway…see you Saturday?"

"Well, we're training together Wednesday," Sakura was fighting the smile slowly inching across her face.

"Okay, see you Wednesday?" Naruto said, grinning wide.

"Definitely."

"So, tell me, what do you know about the Akatsuki?" Daisuke asked, smiling as he was lead into the office and took a seat at the front of Mifune's desk.

"They're a group of S-rank Shinobi that sometimes works missions extremely cheaply," Mifune rattled off, taking a seat behind his desk. "Nothing more than that, why?"

"What if I told you they were the perfect boogie-man for the Hidden Villages to focus on murdering for the next decade or so?" Daisuke suggested with a raised eyebrow.

"I would be interested," Mifune said, leaning forward and placing his fingers into a tent at nose-level. "Tell me more."

"So while I was scouting out Kirigakure, I came across one of the members of the Akatsuki, dolled up in the red-cloud patterned dark coats and all, placing a Genjutsu on the Mizukage," Daisuke explained quickly. "This member of the Akatsuki was deliberately causing the clan genocides happening in Rain. I don't know why, but if one member of the group was doing that, imagine what the other members have done."

"I know that one of their members was held responsible for the murder of one of your villages clans," Mifune pointed out. "Uchiha Itachi?"

"That's correct," Daisuke nodded vigorously. "So, I'm thinking why not let out the dirty laundry of this group out, let each Hidden Village expand it's resources hunting down and exterminating a group of S-rank Ninja that make armies look like a joke. Since their time and effort will be spent hunting a small, nigh-untraceable organization which will fill their paranoid heads for free leaving them with very little room to handle the Land of Iron expanding."

"They would actually focus more on the small group of Ninja instead of a nation getting larger," Mifune laid out with an unimpressed frown. "Are you joking?"

"It's not about what the threat is," Daisuke responded with a smile. "It's about what they think the threat is. Genjutsu-ing a nation into destroying itself is a lot more terrifying for a Ninja than a Samurai that peacefully expands his nation with little to no bloodshed."

"Without bloodshed," Mifune's head tilted in disbelief. "You will have to explain this to me."

"The Land of Water and the Land of Wind are both in complete shambles," Daisuke responded casually. "The Land of Wind has almost no resources to speak of. Their economy is hemorrhaging Ryo and the Hidden Village there is basically broke. Plus, the son of the Kazekage owes me a huge favor."

"How big of a favor?" Mifune asked, his eyes squinting.

"I fixed a problem that had been plaguing him his whole life," Daisuke responded with a shrug, still smiling. "I think I could ask him just about anything short of killing his own siblings."

"Uh-huh," Mifune explained, raising an eyebrow. "And the Land of Water?"

"Vicious, bloody civil war that's been going on forever thanks to the Akatsuki," Daisuke shrugged, still smiling. "The shinobi might still be fighting, but I'm willing to bet the Daimyo's pretty much had it with the Hidden Village. He might not object to some timely intervention. Hypothetically, eh…hm."

"What?" Mifune asked, the bandages on his head starting to itch as they often did.

"I had considered maybe arranging a marriage, but-"

"No."

"That's what I thought," Daisuke nodded. "Honestly, it was just an idle thought, wasn't actually being serious about going through with it. You have children?"

"Some," Mifune replied with a waffling motion with his hand. "Join us and you might meet them."

"Again, tempting," Daisuke replied with a small smirk. "But not now."

"So, you left before we could finish talking about your reasoning last time," Mifune said with a raised eyebrow. "I'd like you to continue."

"Why are you so concerned with my motives?" Daisuke asked neutrally.

"I want to know how much I can truly trust you," Mifune replied just as evenly. "My advisors have warned me that meeting with you is a very bad idea, but something is telling me that perhaps it might be best to at least hear you out. But I need to know why you're committing treason for obvious reasons."

"Alright that's fair," Daisuke agreed with a thoughtful frown. "So, we've gone over my…noble reasons. It shouldn't surprise you that there's personal ones as well."

"Of course it doesn't," Mifune replied. "So, speak."

"Well, a while ago, I learned a few things about my best friend that are being kept as secrets of the village," Daisuke explained. "Things that carry the death penalty if they're spoken aloud. But my friend needs to know and he needs to be told by someone that actually cares about him and wants him to know the truth."

"Is he truly ready to learn such things about himself?" Mifune asked with a frown, sitting up straight and looking down at the youth before him.

"He is," Daisuke replied. "But telling him is the right thing to do, so I have to do it."

"But your Kage has made these secrets forbidden," Mifune argued. "He had a good reason."

"The Kage allowed his treasonous pupil to leave because he couldn't bear with killing someone so close to him," Daisuke replied venomously. "And he allowed the man who ordered the Uchiha Massacre to go free. The Kage has no right to demand any sort of loyalty from anyone in the village because he's betrayed them all. Twice."

Mifune slowly took a breath. "Did he? That's interesting. I suppose there's no honor amongst Shinobi, is there?"

"No," Daisuke shook his head. "No, there isn't. My friend has to know, though, or someone else will tell him. Someone else who has significantly less kindness and compassion for him. Maybe even hate him for what these secrets are."

"Is your friend a Jinchūriki?" Mifune asked curiously.

"Among other things," Daisuke said quietly.

"I see," Mifune replied. "I never did approve of the Tailed Beasts being used by the Shinobi as they are. It is, however, better than allowing them to roam rampant."

"I believe that," Daisuke nodded. "But I have to tell him and that is going to slice up my association with Konoha to ribbons."

"Can you not do so secretly?" Mifune asked.

"No, and it's my own fault," Daisuke replied. "For most of my career I had an…insubordinate streak. This, combined with my, ah, power, made me a subject of total surveillance. I can't tell him without eavesdroppers and then word will get back to the Hokage and then I will be declared a missing Nin for it."

"An insubordinate streak. Really," Mifune said. "And why is that?"

"Well, that comes into my final reason for being willing to turn on Konoha like I am," Daisuke's eyes narrowed. "For a time, my growth was…stunted. Because of my bloodline. I honestly think I could've counted as insane. Nearly sociopathic, definitely. I couldn't understand people or properly navigate the social landscape they were asking me to."

The Shogun motioned for the child to continue.

"So I…took risks. Big risks. I was nigh unkillable, still am, but they reacted badly," Daisuke continued. "There was one point where I was forcibly separated from the group. We were in the sewers and I was stabbed through the back and dragged to who-knows where. Trying to reunite with the group without any inkling of where they were was a fools errand, so I didn't even try. I was rather…distracted. With taking my frustrations out on our aggressors so I charged ahead. Fought the big guy at the end. I wound up biting off a harder fight than I thought, I admit it, but I still wasn't going to die. But I was pulled off missions."

"Most Shinobi can be counted as insane," Mifune replied with a raised eyebrow. "I've met several. I fought one. Why focus on you like you're doing something abnormal?"

"I don't know," Daisuke waved it off with a glare at the wall. "But it wasn't fair. It wasn't fair at all and it…pisses me off. Missions were one of my few sources of joy, my main source of stress relief, a statement that I was getting somewhere. As you can see, I was eventually able to fix the mental problem. But it still wasn't fair. It wasn't even just. So yeah, I've got a bit of a vendetta against Konoha's leadership. Very little confidence in them or their ability to lead."

"And there it is," Mifune said, taking a breath. "This is as much about your vendetta as it is your desire to see a better world, is that right?"

"I guess you could say that," Daisuke shrugged. "But I wasn't kidding before about helping you guys out. I want Ninshu everywhere. I want jutsu everywhere. Even here."

"Now that's an interesting idea," Mifune just barely resisted the urge to scoff. "Now why would we, as Samurai, want anything to do with Ninja Arts?"

"Jutsu and Ninshu are two sides of the same coin," Daisuke explained with a raised eyebrow. "The books you brought me, about The Sage of the Six Paths. He created Ninshū and taught it to his sons Indra and Asura. What they did with it made the foundation of everything we know today. As much as I like Ninshū, and believe me, I do, I don't believe it would be wise to ignore Jutsu, just like how dumb it would be to ignore Ninshū in favor of Jutsu."

Mifune groaned. "This. This is what my advisors warned me about."

"Look, as far as I'm concerned, the Land of Iron's got the best system in place to lead to the world being the best place it could possibly be," Daisuke explained, standing up. "But the only way to truly realize that potential is to acknowledge everything you have available, not pick and choose. I could give you the weapons I've developed, show you how to improve your infrastructure to places you've never dreamed of, bring all of your people, Samurai and Civilian's alike, into a new golden age unlike anything you've ever seen before. I won't do it in Konoha, not now, their politics and leaders sicken me. But I can't do it here unless you're willing to accept what I have to give."

"You're asking me to help upend everything my people have stood for," Mifune said seriously. "We've preserved the way of the Samurai for generations. We cannot throw that away."

"I'm not asking you to throw it away," Daisuke replied with a sad frown. "I'm asking you to add onto it. But if there's nothing else…I guess I'm done here."

He turned to walk away, stepping lightly but resolutely toward the door.

Mifune watched him.

Daisuke opened the door.

"Wait," Mifune took a deep breath and even longer to exhale. "How would you get the people to accept your offer?"

Daisuke closed the door. "Present the information neutrally and without bias, and the people will choose for themselves. I will show you."

"Mom, Dad, I'm home!" Nichiren called out, shifting his shoes off of his feet.

"Son!" His father, Hiro rounded the corner with a bright smile. "How was the mission?"

"Boring," He replied with a smile. "Just the way I like it!"

"That's good to hear," Hiro replied with a nod. "You know, your mother worries about you every time you leave the village."

"I know, Dad," Nichiren replied. "Where is she now?"

"She went out to grab some groceries from the store," Hiro explained. "She'll be back shortly. So what was it this time?"

"Just escorting a caravan to the Land of Grass," Nichiren replied, walking in and taking a seat. "Not nearly as exciting as last time I had to do that."

"Well, at least it turned out okay both times, right son?" Hiro asked, taking a seat on the couch opposite of his son. "You still talking with your team?"

"Oh yeah, Sensei and I still train together a lot," Nichiren replied with a smile.

"How about that Yamada girl?" Hiro asked with a raised eyebrow and a sly grin.

"She's still crazy about Daisuke," Nichiren replied with a sigh. "Even though he gave her the boot. Twice, now."

"That's too bad," Hiro said sadly. "When was the last time you saw that freak of nature anyway?"

"Almost three months ago," Nichiren replied with a shrug. "He's not that bad, Dad."

"I know," Hiro replied sheepishly.

"I mean, he's pretty bad," Nichiren clarified. "But not that bad. At least, not anymore since he's become 'socially aware'. I think."

"He doesn't still scare you, does he?" Hiro asked with a frown. "He's your teammate and he's saved your life. Multiple times. Even if he is a bit freaky."

"Look Dad, as I've said before, the moment his bloodline says it's a good idea to kill us," Nichiren started, taking his glasses off and cleaning them. "He's going to kill us. Or at least think really, really hard about it. I don't think that's changed since he became Good Looking-sama."

"You don't think it's told him that before and he's shrugged it off?" Hiro asked with a shrug. "He hasn't killed anyone in Konoha yet, I think it's a distinct possibility."

"Nah," Nichiren shook his head. "If it had happened, he'd have told us to our face first. You know, before blowing it up."

Hiro sighed and rubbed his eyes beneath his glasses. "Nichiren, I know paranoia is supposed to help in the Ninja world, but are you sure it's not wearing a bit on you?"

"I'm totally happy with being paranoid as long as I'm living in the village," Nichiren explained. "Anyone could be a spy from Iwa or Kumo."

"Nichiren," Hiro began.

"Anyone," Nichiren repeated with emphasis.

Hiro sighed. "I suppose I have to take you at your word. How soon until you can buy that land you've been eyeing?"

"Eh, just one more C-rank will do it, then I can buy the land and the materials to build an estate on it," Nichiren replied with a grin. "Then I can create an escape tunnel and if Konoha's attacked, you guys can run and hide. If Konoha gets destroyed, I can join you shortly after."

"That'll be nice," Hiro said with a smile. "We won't have to work the store anymore, we can just live happily."

"That's the goal," Nichiren nodded. "Then I just need to serve out my tenure as a Shinobi then I can retire alongside you, get a girl, start a family…"

"I understand being a Shinobi is great for one's love life," Hiro said, waggling his eyebrows. "Eh? Eh?"

Nichiren shook his head. "Yeah I guess, but…I'm just not looking right now. Retirement opens up a lot of free time."

"Why can't you retire now again?" His Dad asked. "I mean, you have two S-ranks under your belt, you've done more than most Shinobi ever will."

"Because with two S-ranks I've still got to serve at least ten years," Nichiren said with a shrug. "Honestly, I'm glad them, or I'd be serving for life, basically."

"That's right, that's right," Hiro said, running a hand through his gray hair. "Sorry I forgot, I'm getting slow in my old age."

"It's fine Dad," Nichiren reassured. "You didn't meet Mom until you were a bit older yourself, right?"

"Yeah, I was forty-six, she was twenty-five," Hiro explained with a shrug. "Just started up the shop, met her. A few years later, we started dating, got married, had you."

"Right, right," Nichiren started to nod. "By the way, did Mom have anything she needed done after she got home?"

"Just to get started on Dinner," Hiro replied. "Why?"

"What's for dinner?" Nichiren asked, standing up.

"Katsudon with Korokke on the side," Hiro explained.

"Alright, I'll see if I can get it started," Nichiren replied, moving to the kitchen. "Did she say what we were missing? Oh. We're out of rice. Got it…"