"Exactly," said the Tsuchikage. "It was a stroke of genius."
"How does this qualify as a 'stroke of genius'?" asked the Advisor.
The Tsuchikage swirled the drink around in its glass for a moment, seemingly lost in contemplation. "Do you remember anything about the last war?"
The seeming subject change caught the Advisor off-guard. "Wha?"
"Do you remember the last Ninja War?" asked the Takikage. "The ninja involved behind enemy lines? They could survive for days without food. They could survive a day without water. They could survive and fight without backup or supplies. Do you know what they could not fight without?"
"Chakra?" asked the Advisor.
The Takikage spit to the side, the sunflower seed clinking into the wastebasket. "No. What they needed to survive most was hope."
"'Hope'?" asked the Advisor.
The Takikage nodded. "The jinchuriki, even if their existence is kept secret, tend to be hated and shunned. Maintaining the loyalty of such a ninja can be difficult. So, a backup plan to keep the jinchuriki from going insane and slaughtering her way out of the village. A glistening hope for the future."
"I see, so an additional measure of control," said the Advisor.
"Look at it that way if you want," said the Takikage. "I have chosen a young boy of Konohagakure - who is of an allied village so as to make it plausible. A little bribe and it was done with the current caretaker. Fuu is now the fiancee of Naruto Uzumaki."
"Shion?"
"Mother?"
"I have foreseen that I will have to leave you all too soon."
"Mother? No!"
"Not right now, child."
"Oh."
"I have made an arrangement engaging you to Naruto Uzumaki, a boy about your age from Konohagakure."
"Boys are icky."
"Yes, at your age, but that's beside the point."
"Why this boy?"
"He is a child of prophesy. He is the son of a noble hero. Or two. Sometimes the visions get a bit confusing."
"So... he's not icky?"
"He won't always be icky, but he'll need help to get to that point. You can help with that when the time comes."
"You what?" asked the little girl.
"Engaged you to the godson of one of the Sannin Of The Leaf, Jiraiya the Toad Sage!"
"You engaged me to a toad?" asked the little girl, gagging and making faces.
"Uhm. No. Pay attention Koyuki. Most likely everyone will forget about this and move on, but I wanted to make sure you know. In another two months, we'll be getting a guest from Konohagakure - Kakashi Hatake. We get some of their ninja here for bodyguard duty every so often, part of an exchange program where we cross-train each other's ninja and let them depressurize. Anyway, you're engaged to a boy named Naruto. Who knows, maybe this boy will grow up to be a great ninja hero. Heroes are acceptable consorts for princesses, you know."
"I know," said Koyuki, nodding seriously at that. There were stories where the handsome hero won the hand and heart of a princess. Though usually the handsome hero turned out to be a wandering prince, right?
"So maybe everything will turn out right," said Koyuki's father. "Hmmm. I forgot to ask this kid's age."
"Daddy baka," said Koyuki, thinking that was pretty important.
Haku looked down at the letter. "Mama?"
"Just in case, just in case," said Haku's mother. "If you need to get away. If you need to escape. Go there. There is a boy named Naruto Uzumaki. He is your fiancee."
"Why would I need to get away?" asked Haku.
"I pray you never need to find out," said Haku's mother.
Read the comments on this episode
(Posted Thu, 25 Aug 2011 21:08)
Questions? Problems? Suggestions?
Send a mail to addventure@bast-enterprises.de
or use the contact form.
らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
All other series and their characters are © by their respective creators or owners. No claims of ownership of these characters are implied by the authors of this Addventure, or should be inferred.
The Anime Addventure is a non-profit site.