[Read advance Chapters on P atreon at: p-atreon.com/SlytherinManor]
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Hyuga Compound—
"Hmph! Uchiha Kanzou... he actually has the gall to invite us to his wedding?" Hiashi snorted coldly.
He hasn't forgotten that he was humiliated by Uchiha Kanzou. There was no way he was going to be attending the wedding! Seeing Uchiha Kanzou happy... and celebrating while the bastard had extorted them, humiliated them, and even imprisoned them at his Police Station... how could Hiashi tolerate that?
Elderly Hyuga beside him pressed his lips, "...But would that be a good decision? Not attending the wedding?"
Hiashi became a little uncertain, "Well—"
—
Inuzuka Compound—
"That bastard Uchiha Kanzou... sending his wedding invitation to me?!" Inuzuka Gaku barked, feeling unhappy. Just the thought that the man he hates most is getting married... he felt his teeth itch.
If it were up to him, he'd send the ninkens in his Clan and let them piss and poop everywhere to completely ruin the wedding.
Of course, he wasn't going to do that. But he was really tempted.
"Uchiha Kanzou should feel glad that I am not ruining it for him..." he snorted, about to toss aside the invitation.
"Would Uchiha Kanzou overlook the matter if we don't turn up for his wedding?" Inuzuka Gaku's deputy questioned.
Gaku pressed his lips and shrugged, "Who cares..."
Even if he said that, he still felt a little concerned. But he tried not to think too much about it, and said, "Anyway... I also need to marry. As the Patriarch of the Inuzuka Clan, I need to ensure the continuation of the line..." He turned to Tsume, who was on the side, and said to her, "Tsume... we are going to get married soon..."
Tsume paused and answered, "Fine..." Though internally she was thinking, 'Aren't you just doing this because you don't want to be left behind by Uchiha Kanzou?'
—
Nara Compound—
"What to do with this Wedding Invitation?" Chōza felt troubled.
"We could just choose not to go..." Inoichi suggested. He didn't like Uchiha Kanzou much... especially after they were extorted. Now Uchiha Kanzou was inviting them to his wedding... how could they want to go?
"It's not that simple..." Shikaku sighed. "Knowing Uchiha Kanzou... if we don't go, he'd be offended, and he'd definitely retaliate against us later..."
Kanzou created trouble for them even when he had no reason to do so... now if they don't attend his wedding, they'd be giving him a deliberate reason.
"Well..." Inoichi became quiet.
Chōza asked, "So are we going?"
"Other Clans should be in the same dilemma..." Shikaku said, stroking his chin.
Uchiha Kanzou had offended almost all the Clans in Konoha. So, when it comes to this matter of attending his wedding, Shikaku felt that all the Clans would be the same. None of them would want to attend... but at the same time, they are worried about the consequences of not attending.
If they hurt Uchiha Kanzou's ego, it'll most certainly lead to problems... not only finance-related, but also political. If their ninjas are imprisoned or if their businesses are harassed, that'd be too much trouble.
So the problem is... do they want to risk all those issues by hurting his ego?
It's better not to do that, right?
"I wonder what Hokage-sama thinks about this..." Inoichi mumbled.
—
Inside the Hokage's Office—
Sarutobi Hiruzen sat in silence, staring at the neatly placed envelope on his desk.
"Attend Uchiha Kanzou's wedding?" Hiruzen wanted to scoff.
Every bit of humiliation that Kanzou had put him through and put his son through burned fresh in his mind, unforgotten and unforgiven.
Given the hostility between them, there was no way he was going to attend the wedding.
Yet he also feared the consequences of hurting Uchiha Kanzou's ego.
If he doesn't attend Uchiha Kanzou's wedding... what if Kanzou comes with Mikoto to see him? Kanzou, who is strong enough to overwhelm Sakumo... Mikoto with Mangekyō Sharingan, Might Duy... and the others.
'Damn it... how long am I going to continue to give in like this?' he clenched his fists.
He is the Hokage... yet he is being forced to repeatedly swallow everything. There is a limit to how much he can tolerate and give in.
Not wanting to keep the things going as is, Hiruzen made the decision, "I am not going to attend..."
There might be consequences and retaliation from Kanzou for having his ego bruised. But... he wasn't going to attend the wedding.
"In fact, this is a good thing... let his ego be bruised..." he murmured, as suddenly a plan came to his mind.
'If none of the Clans attend the wedding... then he'd surely be humiliated...' he thought.
Knowing Kanzou, he'd either attempt to retaliate against all the Clans at once, or he'd have to swallow this humiliation.
Even if it's Uchiha Kanzou, he should not want to retaliate against the entire village at once, right?
But considering how much of a madman Kanzou is... maybe he will retaliate against the entire village.
"But that's a good thing..." he murmured again.
If Uchiha Kanzou does retaliate against the entire village... then Hiruzen would be sure to use this opportunity to convene all the Clans and put an end to Kanzou's wanton behavior.
"It's payback time, Uchiha Kanzou..." he said, his lips curling as he decided to give some ANBU ninjas instructions. "Deliver a message to the Patriarch of various Clans..."
"Understood, Hokage-sama..." The ANBU ninjas nodded and left one after another.
...
Kushina skipped along the streets of Konoha with a basket swinging from her left hand and an envelope clutched in her right, giggling all the while, "Ehehehe~"
The reason why she was so happy... that was because of the envelope she held.
Yes, it was a wedding invitation.
It had not come from Mikoto's own hands. A policewoman in the Force uniform had delivered it that morning, polite and brief, and Kushina had not even asked the woman's name. She did not care. What mattered was the meaning behind the invitation.
If Mikoto had truly intended to cut their friendship and keep her at a distance, there would have been no invitation. But because she received the invitation, it meant that Mikoto didn't intend to cut off their friendship.
Knowing this, the thought that had sat heavy in her chest since yesterday finally loosened.
'There must have been some other reason she kept trying to send me away,' Kushina decided, and immediately stopped caring what that reason had been. There could be many reasons... and that doesn't matter anymore. What mattered was that her friendship with Mikoto was not ending. That was enough.
'I'll ask Minato-kun to accompany me,' She thought, and hurried.
Before long, she arrived at the training field where Team 6, consisting of Namikaze Minato and his two squadmates, Naoki and Dekai, trained under Jiraiya.
Currently, they happened to be taking a break, so the moment she came over calling out his name, "Minato-kun~" they noticed.
"K-Kushina!" Minato blinked, a faint flush rising across his cheeks.
It had been a while since he last saw her. She looked a little older and a little more filled out in the places that made him suddenly very aware of his own gaze.
"Minato is acting shy as always," his teammates teased.
He pretended not to hear them and stood up to greet her as she arrived close. "Kushina… I thought you'd be resting for a while..."
She planted a hand on her hip and pouted. "So you knew I was back, huh?"
"I heard," he admitted, scratching his head.
"You knew I was back, and you did not even come see me," she pretended to be angry.
"I was training until late. By the time I heard, it was already night. I did not want to disturb your rest," he explained quickly.
'Minato-kun, you dummy. I would not have minded if you disturbed it,' she thought, glaring at him.
"I... I was about to visit you today..." Minato added, not wanting her to get angry.
"Well, since I am in a good mood today, I will forgive you this time," she said, smiling. She wasn't the type who'd get angry over such a small thing in the first place.
"Ah… thank you for that." He smiled, sheepish, relieved that she had forgiven him. An angry Kushina was a natural disaster; he definitely didn't want to face that.
Seeing that the matter was settled between the two, Minato's squadmates finally greeted her.
"Kushina-san."
"Uzumaki Kushina."
"Naoki-san. Dekai-san." She returned their smiles without strain. She had spent enough afternoons waiting for Minato that the two of them no longer felt like strangers.
Then Jiraiya also spoke to her, "Oho, if it isn't Kushina. You have grown since the last time I saw you."
"Jiraiya-sama..." she bowed to him. Since he is Minato's sensei, Kushina tries to be respectful to him.
He nodded and, because he knew more than the boys did, asked the question they could not, "So. How did it go this time? Any progress?"
Minato, Naoki, and Dekai listened without understanding.
Kushina's shoulders dropped. "No, nothing worked. It is still the same. I cannot control it at all."
"Is that so?" Jiraiya murmured, then offered encouragement. "You are still young. Maybe when you are older."
"Hmm." She did not want to talk about the Nine-tails fox that is a nightmare for her, so she tried to shift the conversation and showed them the basket she had brought along. "A... Anyway. Everyone must be hungry, right? I brought snacks."
Jiraiya's eyes lit. "Kushina's cooking."
Dekai and Naoki lit up with him.
Minato frowned, a little concerned, "You should have been resting after the journey. Preparing something first thing in the morning…"
"It's fine. I like cooking, and these are only sandwiches. No effort at all," she said and putting the basked on a wooden stake, she distributed the sandwiches. Minato also helped her with that.
"Itadakimasu~" saying the prayer, they dug in.
"Umaeee~!!!"
"Kushina-san, your cooking is the best."
Jiraiya chewed, swallowed, and delivered the line with a nudge to Minato's ribs, "Hnn... Kushina really is perfect wife material."
Kushina blushed and secretly looked at Minato. His opinion mattered most to her.
And as expected, Minato didn't disappoint her, "You have improved, Kushina."
He still remembered when he had to eat black stuff... When she had just started cooking, she'd cook who knows what, and he was the one who had to eat that stuff.
Those days, he'd often worry about diarrhea or other things. Sometimes, he even wondered if he might not die on a mission or on the battlefield, but from Kushina's poisonous cooking. Those days were really hard... but he stuck through and managed to survive.
Fortunately, slowly Kushina improved, and now she cooks quite well. Almost makes him want to cry.
Kushina, who didn't know Minato's thoughts, giggled in embarrassment, "Hehehe, I practiced a lot while I was away." When she had not been failing to leash the Nine-Tails, she had been in a kitchen. Her skill level was still nowhere near Mikoto's, but she was better than she had been.
Thinking of Mikoto brought her thoughts back to the wedding invitation she had received.
After hesitating for a while, she mustered up the courage and looked at him shyly, asking him, "Minato-kun... are you free this weekend?"
"Huh?" Minato's heart jumped.
Jiraiya's eyebrows climbed, 'Ohoo? Is Kushina asking Minato for a date?'
Naoki and Dekai thought the same thing. Lucky Minato that Kushina seems to be taking the initiative. Left to himself, he would have delayed another year.
"T-This weekend? Nothing planned yet, why?" Minato asked cautiously. His heart was beating rapidly.
Kushina held the invitation out and continued in her shy voice, "Then… will you come with me to Mikoto-chan's wedding?"
Jiraiya's eyes widened. 'Uchiha Mikoto's wedding? And Kushina had been invited?'
He knew of the Nine-tails sealed inside Kushina; he also knew of Uchiha Mikoto's Mangekyō Sharingan, and he also knew of Hiruzen's concern. Although Jiraiya didn't want to interfere with Kushina's personal affairs and even a possible date with Minato, this was a matter that could be ignored.
Therefore, seeing Kushina with that wedding invitation, he questioned her before Minato could give an answer, "Kushina... did you ask the old man?"
The old man is, of course, the Hokage.
Kushina's expression changed, and she tried to reason, "W-Well... this is just a wedding, right?"
"You'd better ask him first before making any plans..." Jiraiya shook his head.
...
Hokage Office—
"No." Hiruzen refused before she had even finished sitting down.
"W-Why not? It is just a wedding!" Kushina argued, slamming her hand on the table.
"Exactly... It is just a wedding. It will continue whether you are there or not," Hiruzen responded calmly.
"But I want to go. This is Mikoto-chan's wedding." The words came out thinner than she intended. In her mind, the picture was already clear: if she didn't attend her wedding, Mikoto might never forgive her, and the friendship she had been so afraid of losing might really snap.
Hiruzen's answer did not change: "No."
"I… I will be going with Minato-kun," Kushina tried to reason. With Minato accompanying her, there shouldn't be any problems, right?
Yet, Hiruzen's response remained the same, "No."
He intended this wedding to become a humiliation. He intended to show Kanzou his place. Allowing anyone to attend, least of all Kushina, would undercut the entire point. If she went, he would not rest unless he went himself to watch her, and that was not going to happen. Leaving her among the Uchiha, even with Minato at her side, was equally unacceptable.
Kushina's eyes filled. Fury and hurt tangled until she could no longer keep either of them inside. She smashed the table that had only been replaced the day before.
Bang!
"I hate you all!!!" she shouted, her voice echoing down the corridor as she stormed out.
Hiruzen sighed and pressed his temple.
A moment later, Jiraiya slipped in through the window, landing lightly beside the wreckage. "That was too harsh, old man."
"It cannot be helped," Hiruzen said. "Kushina's safety is more important."
"Are you even certain Uchiha Kanzou would try to take the Nine-Tails?" Jiraiya asked. He felt that maybe Hiruzen was being too paranoid.
"The possibility alone is enough. It is better not to risk it," Hiruzen answered plainly.
Jiraiya let out a long breath. "Well… I guess."
Hiruzen looked at the half-destroyed doorway Kushina had left behind, and added, "Keep an eye on her. Make sure she does not do anything reckless and try to go anyway." He paused. "Let Minato be with you. With Minato around... she'd probably not go..."
Knowing Kushina, she might try to secretly attend the wedding. He can't allow that at all.
Jiraiya grimaced as if he had swallowed something sour. "You are going to make Kushina hate Minato."
"Kushina's safety is more important," Hiruzen reminded Jiraiya.
Jiraiya scratched the back of his head, helpless. "Fine."
...
Kyō no Miyako(Imperial Capital of the Land of Fire)
The news of the marriage of the Uchiha Patriarch—Uchiha Kanzou and Uchiha Mikoto had reached even the Imperial Capital.
When it arrived, the second son of the current Daimyō, Madoka Kagerō, went still for a long moment before the words finally left him. "What… how could that be possible? Mikoto-san… how could she be marrying this early? And how could she be marrying anyone else?"
'This was not supposed to happen. Mikoto-san was supposed to wait for me to become the Daimyō. This is unacceptable!'
He turned at once to the man standing at his shoulder, one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja.
"Send a message to Konohagakure's Uchiha Clan. Immediately. Summon her here in the name of the Daimyō."
The subordinate's expression changed. "Kagerō-sama… Daimyō-sama will not—"
Kagerō waved the protest aside. "It does not matter. Otou-sama is not in the capital. He is on a journey. There is no problem."
"…I see."
"Also keep this a secret from everyone. No one is to know that Mikoto-san is being called here, and no one is to know she is coming unless she and I have already reached an agreement that she will become my wife."
"…I see."
The man did not like it. The current Uchiha Patriarch's reputation was rather intimidating and unhinged. A mine like that... Will he sit silently if his fiancée were to be called to the Capital and be forced to remain here?
Still, an order from Kagerō was an order. As one of the Guardian 12, he could only obey.
'Hopefully even Uchiha Kanzou will think twice once the Daimyō's name is involved.'
With that in mind, he left to send the message.
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Double Chapter, be sure to drop loads of power Stonessssssssss!
[Read advance Chapters on P atreon at: p-atreon.com/SlytherinManor]