Rubbing the back of his head with one hand, he gave voice to the trouble that he had with this latest summons. "Okay granny, why am I here?"
Sitting back in her chair, Tsunade didn't immediately answer his question. Rather, she took a long and measuring look at him, almost as if she was trying to make an objective report about him. She did a good job of that, but then her impassive facade crumbled and she let herself slump in her seat.
"It's something very important, Naruto," the Fifth Hokage told him. "And not only for you, but for the village as a whole."
"What is it? Some new jerk's threatening the Village?" the blonde boy bit out, allowing one hand to tighten into a fist.
"Well, there was threatening, but not of the sort that comes with a desire to attack the village. Each other might be a different story."
"I don't get what you're talking about...."
"Sorry, but this wasn't something that I thought would come up like this," Tsunade admitted, folding her arms onto her desk.
"What would?"
"You getting married."
"Oh, okay, that's...." Naruto began, and then seemed to choke as her words registered. "WHAT?"
Homura Mitoka peered intently at the sake bottle on the table for a long moment before tipping the contents of his cup into his mouth. "We are really going to do this."
"It's the only way," Koharu Utatane agreed as she rolled another bottle between her fingers.
"We could make him settle down."
"And give us future tools."
"Why didn't we think of this earlier?" murmured Homura.
Koharu merely shrugged as she spotted their pipes resting nearby. "Who knows?"
This time, Tsunade's sigh was heavy and long. "Apparently, the elders have gotten it into their heads that we need to get you married off."
"But why?"
"Ever since the facts about your family have come back up, people have started to realize that you do come from a distinguished background."
"They want me to continue my blood line," he stated, glancing at the floor.
"I wish that I could tell you 'no' on that, but the thing is that we both know that I'd be lying. The Uzumaki family is all but gone, save for a few scattered individuals, and some of mixed blood."
"Wait, I could have some family, right? That would mean... hey, you and I are related then."
"Only distantly," she muttered. "Your mother and my grandmother were only kinsmen."
"Still, I've been right to call you 'granny' all this time."
"It's still not quite right...."
"Doesn't really matter, does it?" he asked, giving a small shrug and a wry grin.
"Perhaps. But the main concern here is that a lot of the Village elders have come to realize that they don't want to lose you. Just the possibility of having the clan's talent fuinjutsu continuing on would be enough, and then there is the chance that your mother's special chakra could be inherited."
"Oh, is that all?"
His comment was sarcastic, but her slight smile made it clear that she was going to be straight and honest. "Not really. Your father was one of the most talented ninjas ever in the village's history, and you could carry his legacy within you. Plus...."
"Yeah?"
"You shouldn't sell yourself short. Remember, you are the ninja who has not only managed to fight great battles, but you defeated some of the most powerful enemies that any in this village have ever seen."
"I guess that's right," Naruto allowed as he puffed up his chest just a bit. "But there are some really nasty bad guys around."
"And that is why they don't want to lose the chance to keep a part of you. Not only would they want what you could bring for the future, but there's every chance you could... not come back. They don't want to be robbed of the opportunity to have something of you continuing on into the future."
"What do you want from me?"
"To be honest? If I had my way, I'd just have it so that you'd be happy. Wouldn't you like to have a family of your own? Don't you have a girl in mind that you'd like to settle down with?" Tsunade asked, sympathy in her eyes
For a moment, Naruto couldn't see what she was trying to get at, but then he allowed himself to think about the girls in his life. Most were just people he'd met in passing, and he didn't even know their names. Out of the girls that he'd actually gotten to really know, much of their number were simply comrades, friends, or opponents. But as for girls who he might have romantic prospects with....
Sakura immediately came to mind, seeing as he'd liked her way back during their academy days, and she had told him recently that she loved him. Then again, there was Hinata, who had not only admitted that she loved him, but had been willing to put herself into a hopeless fight against Pain just to protect him. And there were of course a few girls that he'd met along the way who could have been nice dates, but until now, it hadn't been that immediate a concern.
"So, what's this mean?" he asked. "My next mission is to get married?"
Tsunade gave a small chuckle. "Almost. It's been a matter of some discussion among the elders, and the basic consensus is that:
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