The Discussion

One of the things I found charming about Anko was, well, her hair.

Anko's violet hair was really spiky; like an anime-protagonists in the back, but it would spike forward and get into her eyes. She tied it back to keep her vision clear with an elastic. She took it out at night when she went to bed and it would stay out of her face until morning when it just covered the entire top of her face until she tied it back again with the band on the nightstand.

I don't know, I just really like it.

"Good morning," I told her with a smile.

"Good morning," She replied with a brilliant smile. "How'd you sleep?"

"Fantastic," I said. "Just like always. You?"

"It's always a good night with you," Anko said with a giggle, leaning in to peck me on the lips. "Did you want to shower first?"

"Nah, go ahead," I said, cleaning myself off with a jutsu and pulling a new set of clothes out of the drawer. "There's a part of the vault I needed to build."

"Alright honey," She replied, sliding out of bed with a smile. "Have fun. See you at breakfast?"

She walked toward the bathroom with a slightly exaggerated sway of her hips, giving me a great view of the finest bottom that I've ever seen. "See you then."

I took a deep breath and let it out.

When she said 'every night' she meant it. Luckiest. Man. On the planet.

With that pleasant thought ringing in my head, I dashed walked out of the bedroom, listening to the sound of the pipes I built coursing with water as Anko turned on the shower. I dropped to the first floor, and turned, creating a new door.

Given our…topic of discussion today, I think giving Anko something here would be great to let her know that I'm not…mad at her. I'm really not. Befuddled maybe, annoyed sure. But I'm not mad.

I open the door, coming straight to the stone of the mountain I dug my vault out of and got to work.

The present I'm giving is a Chashitsu, a tea-house for Anko to host tea-ceremonies, since this is a fairly big deal for her. When we get back, I'll make another one at the compound once I get a feel for how Anko likes this one.

First is the house, then the path leading around to the entrance. Create a bench there for guests, a small bathroom over there. Now we plant the garden, some tea plants, other plants, some trees here and there to stretch up and cover the wall. On the upper area, I carved out a wider section and placed a seal up there, using wind release to, well, create wind, get a pleasant breeze going through it to make everyone inside feel like they were actually outside.

I walked around the trail and crouched down to get inside…good, the matts are in the right formation. Set up the hearth, good. Then the Tokonoma, from which hangs a scroll featuring a quote or artistic calligraphy.

This scroll had a quote from the Buddha. Well, technically a quote from Civilization IV, but it was ascribed to the Buddha and read by Spock.

"Meditation brings wisdom; lack of meditation leaves ignorance. Know well what leads you forward and what holds you back."

I had to change the wording for the actual translation so it actually read well. Anything else? Ah, yeah. The Chabana. A flower arrangement that goes inside the Tokonoma beside the scroll. Very simple, with white and red blooms in a vase.

Alright, there we go, one tea house and presumably many tea ceremonies throughout the years.

Anko wanted to make breakfast today, so I can wait for her. Kitchen and dining area's clean, right? Let's go check.

I zipped out of my new tea-area and flew over to the diner. Yeah, tables are all clean…wait. Oh, whoops. I forgot about dishes last night. Well, let's get them done.

Literally just a snap of the fingers to clean the entire kitchen. My old mother would be so jealous it makes me laugh.

"So." Anko took a deep breath. Her trench coat looking crisp and clean since she washed it this morning. Her fingers were interlocked in front of her over the folder containing the legalese for…harems. "Before we start talking about this, I have something to say."

"Lay it on me," I said.

"Well, when I was thinking about getting this for you, I thought that the main issue would be that you were a prude," Anko began. "I thought you were sexually repressed and that this gift, in addition to making sure your biggest need as a man is fulfilled, would help you overcome that."

"I was repressed," I said with a nod. "But then we got married."

Anko got a small smile on her face, in spite of herself. "You're right. We did. But what I'm trying to say is that I thought your issue was that you had unhealthy views on sex, I didn't realize one of your biggest moral anchors was monogamy."

"You know, that makes a lot of sense," I replied. "I thought you were just shoring up the defenses in case I fell out of love with you."

Anko tossed that thought around in her head with an uncomfortable expression. "I was doing that too."

"So, you realize this isn't necessary," I said with concern, stretching my hand out to take hers. "I'm committed. And I want to help you, love you, stay with you forever. You know this."

"Thanks to Katsuki," Anko began, grabbing my hand. "I can actually see how we can keep our marriage alive forever. I can see it. But I still want to give you a harem."

I wanted to slam my face into the table. Hard enough to leave an imprint in the steel. But I didn't, because that would upset Anko and this is not a discussion where we need hurt feelings clouding up the discussion. "Why?"

Anko's frown got deeper. "Before we go into why, can we try to clear up any misunderstandings about this? I feel like there's a few."

Alright, that makes sense. "Sure."

"When you think of a harem, what comes to mind?"

"A prison," I replied with a frown.

Anko blinked in surprise. "Seriously?"

"Technically a gilded cage," I elaborated. "The women there are slaves and they're guarded by men who've had their privates chopped off, to stop them from leaving or to stop them from having boyfriends come over. They are not allowed to leave. Sure, they have servants, luxury, etcetera. But they're in captivity."

"That sounds like something you'd hate," Anko replied, slowly nodding.

"I mean, I've heard that there were cases where harems were just buildings were the women lived and they weren't all wives of the owner," I continued to explain. "But when you say harem, I think of the first example. I don't want to be responsible for that, no thank you."

Anko got an inquisitive expression on her face. "Alright…by the way, why exactly don't men want women being as promiscuous as they usually are?"

"No man wants to slave away for all his life providing for a child that's not his," I answered. "The kind of heartbreak that ensues can drive men to homicidal rage, as I understand it."

"Ah." Anko said, nodding slowly. "I've always wondered. That clears things up quite a bit. Thank you!"

"So, I'm assuming that harems are slightly different here?" I asked with a frown.

"Well, yes. They are," Anko said, opening the binder and flipping to the first couple of pages. "There are two kinds of harems and neither of them are quite like that."

I simply kept silent and let her keep talking.

"The first type is the type usually seen in Konohagakure," Anko started. "A new bloodline shows up in the village somehow and we want more people with it. So, the village drafts up a bunch of concubines for him to impregnate, around twenty to thirty. They can be prostitutes, kunoichi, regular civilian women wanting to climb the social ladder, etcetera. Each of these women are bound to the man until they've had one child. Then they can decide if they want to stay on or not."

"They can choose to leave," I said with some surprise.

Anko nodded. "In either type of harem, it's on a volunteer basis. In the first case, they're required to remain until they've given the man a child and they're contractually obligated to be completely physically faithful until that child is born."

"That's…better, I guess," I said with a shrug. "Everyone's an adult and can make that decision. The 'stay until a kid is born' is kind of annoying to me, but if they're trying to build a clan, it makes sense. Were you thinking of getting me that harem or the second one?"

"The second kind," Anko replied. "Instead of the women being drafted up by the village, we would pick which girls would be allowed in. It is technically a marriage, though they have less rights than I do and they can leave at any time. They get full custody of the children they have, if they want it, in the event they decide to leave."

"Well, okay," I said with a shrug. "That's…not the nightmare I was expecting, actually."

"Were you thinking I was going to go kidnapping girls in the dead of night for you to ravish?" Anko asked with a teasing grin.

"You know, I didn't actually think about it," I replied with the shake of my head. "What exactly would your involvement be in this?"

"I would be the officiator," Anko said. "The one in charge, the queen, the mistress, the one that beats them if they misbehave."

I leaned forward and started rubbing my eyes. "There's beatings?"

"Only in two cases," Anko replied sheepishly. "The first where they refuse you their bed and the second when they maliciously disrespect you or me. Basically insubordination. Anything more serious than that just gets them dismissed."

"The first isn't a beatable offense," I argued back. "If they're not in the mood, they're not in the mood. The second, well, I mean, people get heated and say things they regret all the time. Myself included. We don't need to beat them over a few words."

"I'm just explaining the law to you," Anko replied, now frowning. "How we implement that law is up to us."

I started grumbling, because, well, it just felt wrong.

"Daisuke, sex-slave is literally their job description," Anko said, her frown getting deeper. "They would know that coming in. And you wouldn't have to treat them as just a few holes with a nice package. I would be shocked if you did and a little disappointed."

"Oh, I don't," I said with a frown.

"You don't," Anko shook her head. "You really don't. If you have a relationship where you just have casual sex every once in a while, or every day, or have something more, that's up to you and the concubine. You can like them. You can treat them. You can even love them."

"Okay, that? No. No, no, no." I started shaking my head. "Anko, if I started loving other women, you'll start having sleepless nights terrified that I'm going to leave you for one of them. I will not put you through that."

"Daisuke…thank you," Anko said with a nod. "I really, really appreciate you thinking about that. That actually makes me feel better. So, here's what I want you to understand; if they're a threat to our marriage, I'm throwing them out of the harem. No questions. They'll understand. Do you accept that?"

"We could dodge the issue entirely by not going through this," I pointed out with a frown. "Why are you so insistent that I have a harem?"

Anko licked her lips. "My reasoning's changed over the past few days."

"Lay it on me," I told her.

"First, and I'm sure you're probably aware, is that I have thought you deserved this since the day you removed my cursed seal," Anko explained. "I've always believed you should've had a harem of willing slaves and now I've got the ability to put my money where my mouth is, so to speak."

"Anko, it was no trouble. You don't have to pay me back for that," I said, squeezing her hand. "Really, it was my pleasure to help you. It doesn't need repayment."

"I know," Anko said with a tender smile. "That's why you should have this."

I sighed. "Alright, what are the other reasons?"

"The second reason is that you really haven't had a lot of love over the course of your life," Anko continued. "I mean, you were basically starved for it. Enough that you were seriously considering Hisako for a girlfriend. That…no. As far as I'm concerned, something needs to pick up the slack for both of your lives. I've had more than a few partners over the course of my life. I'm number two in yours. There is no reason life should've been that unfair to you, so now it's going to balance the scales."

"Fairness is subjective, Anko," I replied. "What's fair to one person is obvious and horrific injustice to the other. Just having you as my wife is more than fair enough for me."

I could see her heart melting behind her eyes. "Thank you. But I want to give you everything I can and…this is what I've got."

"Look, I see you've got reasons, I guess," I shrugged. "But I'm fine. Really."

"Well, you say that now," Anko said. "Another reason? I don't think you understand how much it's going to crush you when I'm not in the mood."

"If you're not in the mood, you're not in the mood," I repeated the line from earlier. "Seriously, it's not a problem."

"You say that now," Anko repeated. "Daisuke, I will never say no to you. Ever. You want it, you'll get it. No matter how much it hurts. But there will be times when I'm not going to want it, you're going to feel it, and that's going to kill your drive. You're going to feel heartbroken; I promise you."

"Have I hurt you?" I asked quickly with more than a little alarm.

"Only in the ways I've wanted to be hurt." Anko said with a reassuring and naughty grin. "You give a mean spanking."

"Thanks." Whew, I was really worried I injured her there for a second.

"But back on topic," Anko cleared her throat. "You're going to be able to tell I'm not enjoying it, because I won't be as into it as I normally am. It's going to crush you. I know this because I've seen you. I understand you. But, if you had someone else, someone who did want it, who will not say no, that would take a lot of pressure off of me to be on all the time. It'd give me time to breathe, clear out the distractions and get back in order. Even better if you had a variety of girls to choose from so there's redundancy in place."

Ninjutsu Check Success: 100/65.

"Can't you just use clones?" I asked with a frown. "I mean, sure, there's the argument that clones come from you and would suffer from the same…lack motivation, but I just came up with a clone jutsu I could teach you that could give long-lasting clones. Clones that can last for years. Clones with variety. Clones that can handle sex with me."

"Well, I mean, the clans don't usually practice harems or polygyny because of clones." Anko shrugged. "But that doesn't take care of the 'you need more love in your life' thing I talked about. I can only give so much."

"I can have love from, say, Ino or, I don't know, someone else without having sex with them," I pointed out.

"But then I'd be your sole provider of that and as I've said, it's not going to work out," Anko rebutted back at me. "Then, well, there's the fact that we're immortal."

"What does us being immortal have to do with it?" I asked, my head tilting.

"Eventually, the two of us are going to outlive and outlast our friends," Anko said. "It's just the way our life is going to be. Because of that, our…grounding with other people is going to corrode and die. They'll go from possible friends…to people…to just mortals. But if you had a harem, a group of people you have all the reason in the world to gift with immortality, eternal youth, not godhood unless they really earn it, we could both have a larger network of people to keep social with instead of just us."

"Shinigami straight up told me he doesn't want me making everyone immortal," I answered with a frown. "I mean, I don't think he'd mind one or two people but…I don't know. I'd have to ask him. Of course, if we just didn't go down this route, we could just, I don't know, make people immortal as time went on?"

"Daisuke, unless there's rules in place, the number of immortals we associate with could become endless," Anko pointed out. "That would really tick off the Shinigami. Besides, we both need friends. Friends with benefits for you, girlfriends for me."

"Girlfriends?" I asked.

"Yeah, girlfriends," Anko nodded. "People that I can talk too when you're spent and need time alone. People that, well, I can trust and can relate to as time goes on. You need that too."

"I guess," I replied with a shrug. "But, well, we don't need to involve them sexually, do we?"

Anko frowned, squinting as her head tilted. "Daisuke, what is it about your old culture that's got monogamy stuck in your head so hard?"

"There's several reasons," I started, straightening up. "First off, if I'm your only man, and you're my only woman, it removes obstacles from the marriage from succeeding. I don't have other women with a lot of tools at their disposal to try to pry me away from you, you don't have men trying to get into your pants to use you and then leave you trying to convince me to provide for their spawn."

Anko started chuckling. "Their spawn. Heh, funny. It really matters to you that it's yours, huh?"

"Oh yes," I nodded rapidly.

"Well, it matters to me too," Anko said with a smile, again, getting that twinkle in her eyes that just melted my heart. "I think the birth of our first child is going to be the happiest day of my life."

"Mine too," I said with a smile to match. "Really. We don't need to involve other women in this."

Anko sighed. "Well, you have any other reasons to stay monogamous?"

"Just a continuation of the first one," I continued. "We've only been married for less than a week. Adding more women? Women with hopes, dreams, desires of a relationship with me? Some number of them of also scheming of ways to get you and the other concubines out of the picture? That's going to pull me from you. That's going to give our marriage a lot of strain and stressors that it doesn't need. We both need to be present for it, and that'll be a lot harder for me to be present and help build what we have."

"That's…a good point," Anko said with a frown. "As I said, I'd throw them out if they were a problem."

"But you having to throw concubines out after we've been married for…however long we've been married when you've got it up and running? Something which will probably result in a serious fight if we're not on the same page about it?" I pressed. "Those are not things we need this early in our marriage."

"Okay, that makes sense," Anko relented.

"Second reason, a personal reason, is that I am a very private person," I continued, happy I was finally making some headway. "I went back to Konoha to be with my friends, that's true. To try to be more social. I wound up married. That's great. Easily the best thing that's ever happened to me. But…this is all I can take right now. Involving however many other girls you intend to invite? That's going to be completely overwhelming."

"Oh," Anko cupped her chin.

"Then, of course, there's the fact that I was raised for twenty-four years with monogamy as the default family model," I replied. "That the father provides a model of masculinity and the mother providing a model of femininity each to whatever degree they had those qualities for their child to see and then develop to whatever side they wound up on as an adult. They were both present. I will not experience my child's growing years through a clone."

"Has your world just not had to repopulate in a while?" Anko asked with a curious frown.

"The civilization I grew up in hadn't seen polygyny in use for hundreds of years. Maybe thousands," I said with a shrug. "I never did dedicated research into the subject, so I'm not sure."

"Come on, there had to be one case," Anko said, her eyes wide in shock. "How could you get that well established?"

…there was one case. "Well, okay. One."

"I knew it. Let's hear it," Anko said with a smile.

"My religion was founded two almost two hundred years ago," I started to explain. I hated telling this story. It's honestly all people thought about when they heard it and it detracted from the other things the religion had to teach. "Reception towards it was…hostile. Very, very hostile. Angry mobs, that sort of thing. God, we believed, recognized that we were going to have population problems, so he authorized Polygyny. With the number of times our church and people were chased from place to place, I honestly believe that if it wasn't authorized, our church would have died out."

"Why did they hate your church so much?" Anko asked with interest and a great deal of sympathy.

"Before the plural marriage, it was the fact that we were telling everyone that we had a prophet, God's spokesman on the Earth and that no one else had the authority to speak in God's name," I explained. "Typical religious infighting, in other words. But once we were chased half-way across the nation, past a giant mountain range where the mobs couldn't get to us, the practice Polygyny was outlawed. That was almost two hundred years ago."

"So, if it was 200 years ago," Anko started with an analytical expression on her face. "And you believe it was necessary, why do you hate it so much? It's not considered a shameful part of your church's history, is it?"

"By those who don't understand the history, it is," I explained. "But I think it had to happen. My issue is that, well, people throughout my nation, throughout the world, still take issue with the practice. Nearly two hundred years ago and they still use it as something to denounce us with. The religion, I remember, made me happy and helped turn me into a better person. I went on a mission to share it with people but…some people would point it out to insult us."

"It was a reason for people to not align themselves with your belief system," Anko said diplomatically.

"Yes," I said with a nod. "Yes, that's exactly it. I just didn't want them to have that kunai in their holster. That shuriken in the pouch. You know what I mean."

That arrow in their quiver.

That bullet in their magazine.

I could go on and on.

"If you don't mind me saying," Anko began. "If it wasn't that, it was going to be something else. They just wanted the moral high ground so they wouldn't feel like you had a reason to be trying to get them to be better."

"It's not that I thought they were bad," I replied, shrugging. "I just thought they'd be happier."

"Admirable. But, as you said, there's room in your mind for something like the harem I want to give you in the case of emergencies," Anko said. "Is that right?"

"Technically its only if God says so," I replied. "Because he wants kids to replace oncoming casualties."

"Well, aren't you a god?" Anko rejoined.

"And you're goddess enough for me," I replied with an as warm and inviting smile as I could muster.

Anko interlocked her fingers. "Well, here's my last thing. Okay?"

"Alright," I said with a frown. "Go ahead."

"The world we live in is heading for war," Anko pointed out. "You know it and you've explained it to me. That fact that you're in Konoha again is only going to slow it down while they figure out how to stop you from raising the dead. You also want to make changes. Big changes. Things that even I'm having trouble wrapping my head around. In order to do that without simply installing yourself as god and commanding the village to worship you, you'll need willing allies. It'll be a lot easier for the clans to go along with your plans and edicts if you're inside their daughters and making them scream your name on a nightly basis."

"But they'll hate every second of it," I said with a frown. "Seriously, if they aren't attracted to me and are just letting me have my way with them out of duty, they'll hate it and me. If I make them orgasm, that'll just make it worse."

"Daisuke," Anko said calmly. "We have Ninshū. I will not allow any woman into your harem that doesn't want you. If they aren't attracted to you, if they're just doing it out of duty, I will not allow them into the harem. They will need to find some other way of securing our allegiance. Unless there's extenuating circumstances, such as a fear of severe punishment, then we'll reevaluate and judge on a case by case basis."

"Right, and there we can just provide safe haven until we figure out a way to let them down without them getting murdered," I said. "Well figuratively."

"No, it can be literally too," Anko corrected.

"That sucks."

"It does," Anko agreed. "So, will you accept the harem? My gift to you?"

I let out a breath. "I'm sorry, I…I can't. I just can't."

"That's okay," Anko reassured me by placing her other hand on top of mine. She had a disappointed look on her face, but it was one that had undertones of acceptance. "Really, it is. Thank you for hearing me out. But Daisuke? If you ever change your mind, you tell me."

"What makes you think I'll change my mind?" I asked with a frown.

"You make life changing decisions and go all in on impulse," Anko replied with a bright smile. "Sure, you think about it in most cases. Long and hard, but…you have the rare ability to make a complete one-eighty on your decisions and stances on things. Not a lot of people can do that."

"I had a lot of growing up to do," I replied. "When I accepted my death, everything fell into place. This? I don't think this has anything to do with growing up."

"No, but in your heart of hearts, you want it," Anko said. "I know you do. It's nothing to be ashamed of."

"…I can't love that many women," I replied with a frown. "That's just me being selfish."

"I think you can," Anko said. "I've seen that you've got it in you, which is the main reason why I don't have a problem giving this to you. I don't feel at risk of losing you. But the relationship you have with them is what you make it. It could be loving and adorable from the second it starts, or it could just be casual and grow into something eventually. If you want. But I won't force this on you. This is something I want you entirely on board with before we go for it."

"Thanks, Anko," I said with a smile. "I love you."

"I love you too."

"Now, why don't we just focus on enjoying our honeymoon?"

"I'd like that."