“Thank you so, so much,” the daimyo said and bowed his head deeply, so deeply.
Sitting in a chair behind Naruto, who sat across from the daimyo, Shikamaru felt a slight smile playing on his lips.
Despite his long journey to Konoha and having arrived only the day before, the daimyo of the Land of Flowers didn’t seem the least bit tired. He was young, the same age as Shikadai. It turned out that he had only become daimyo six months earlier after his father’s sudden passing. Abruptly thrust into the limelight, he had put body and soul into the unfamiliar work when the invasion of the Land of Earth had come like a bolt from the blue.
“My country is truly small. If this had escalated to war, I don’t know what would have happened to my people. The citizens of the territory ceded to the Land of Earth were also quite moved by the goodwill of Lord Ikkyu and agreed to the cession. The culture of the Land of Earth has always had strong roots there, so it seems that everyone is happy about this turn of events. Lord Ikkyu says it is all because you and your people worked so fervently on our behalf, Lord Hokage. I can never begin to thank you enough.” The boy had not stopped bowing since setting foot into the room.
Naruto scratched his head in embarrassment.
Shikamaru was just plain glad that the people of the land to be ceded had agreed to the deal. And after being showered with criticism and complaint from every country at the continental summit, Danjo had taken well to the task and needs of the citizens in his new territory. The cession had been a success.
The young daimyo was remarkably soft-spoken, much more so than Shikadai and the other young ninja of Konoha.
“Er, I realize this is rude,” Shikamaru raised a hand, interrupting the conversation.
“What is it, Shikamaru?” Naruto looked over his shoulder at him. And then, as if remembering something, he turned back to the daimyo of the Land of Flowers and leaned forward. “The meeting of the Five Kages, the continental summit. That whole chain of events wouldn’t have become a reality without this guy. Believe it.”
“Is that so?” The daimyo of the Land of Flowers stood up. He bowed once to Naruto before going around the table in between them and walking over to Shikamaru’s seat.
Shikamaru reflexively recoiled from the gentle-mannered boy’s passionate march.
“And your name?” His voice broke shrilly over the last word in the sentence.
“Shikamaru,” he replied slowly.
“Shikamaru! Thanks to you, my country was saved. Thank you so very much!”
The boy bowed his head with enough force to headbutt the still-seated Shikamaru right in the nose. Shikamaru pulled his head back to avoid a direct collision.
Eyes shining, the daimyo of the Land of Flowers took Shikamaru’s hand in his own. “I heard all about you from Lord Ikkyu in the Land of Fire. He said that you fought together with Lord Naruto, that you are the Hokage’s sharp and capable advisor.”
The boy had made a stop in the Land of Fire before travelling on to Konohagakure. As soon as the continental summit had ended and war had been averted, this sedate, sober boy had announced to his retainers his intention to pay a visit to the Land of Fire and the village of Konoha. He’d insisted on the trip before any proper preparations could be completed. His visit to Konoha came seven days after the continental summit.
“I truly wished to meet you and express my thanks.” Vigorously shaking the hand he still held up and down, the young daimyo bowed his head several more times.
“Uh, um,” Shikamaru stammered.
“What is it?” Stars in his eyes, the boy pushed his face forward eagerly.
“There is something I very much wanted to ask you if I had the opportunity to meet you.”
“Go ahead.”
“Why didn’t you speak at the continental summit? Why didn’t you make a case for how irrational the Land of Earth was being to the daimyo of the world?”
“Ohh, is that it?” The daimyo of the Land of Flowers released Shikamaru’s hand and pointed at himself. “What would the other nations think if a child with this sad little face pleaded his case in tears? The end result would have been the same had I voiced my complaints about the Land of Earth with a bold attitude and no tears. It’s been six months since I became daimyo. The only remarkable result to come out of me speaking would have been the awkwardness of watching me flounder desperately. Ours is a small country. We don’t have the necessary strength to defend ourselves. When I show weakness, that becomes the weakness of my own country. In which case, what should I do? I chose silence. As one of the countries directly involved, I said nothing and sat by quietly. By doing so, I was able to get through the summit without exposing any clumsy weakness. I decided to remain silent and leave the decision to the representatives of the world.”
“So then you…”
“Naturally, I did discuss it with the retainers close to me, but the final decision was mine.”
Precisely because his land was weak, he had decided to accept that weakness, acknowledge its reality, and work with that to the best of his abilities. The boy might have seemed out of his depth at first glance, but he had a solid core that would not break.
“Thank you so much for answering my impolite question.” Shikamaru bowed his head.
“No, no.” The daimyo of the Land of Flowers shook his head quickly from side to side. “It is I who must thank you so, so very much.”
In the end, the boy bowed his head throughout the entire meeting, start to finish.
Because he had left his official business undone, the daimyo of the Land of Flowers had decided to return home that very day. Naruto and Shikamaru went with him to the A-un main gates to see him off.
Shikamaru spotted his own son among the Konoha ninja who were guarding the retainers of the Land of Flowers encamped around the daimyo’s driver. While Naruto and the daimyo chatted happily, he slid over to Shikadai on quiet feet.
“Cho-Cho, Inojin, you take the lead and keep an eye on the front. I’ll go to the rear and watch the back,” Shikadai was saying.
The three young ninja were in serious discussion, their faces pushed together. Their jonin supervisor Kazamatsuri Moegi watched over them from a step away. It appeared that the overall planning of the mission had been entrusted to Shikadai.
Moegi noticed Shikamaru’s stealthy approach.
“So we’ll go along like—Oh!” Shikadai looked back to get approval from Moegi and cried out when he noticed Shikamaru. The Land of Flowers people were moving forward with preparations for departure, and they all turned their eyes in this direction at the sound of this cry. “What’s going on?”
“I could ask you the same thing,” he said, grinning at the shocked look on his son’s face.
“We’ll be guarding them to the Land of Flowers,” Moegi answered on Shikadai’s behalf.
Guarding a daimyo was an important mission. Unless the village saw your team as competent and capable, you wouldn’t be given a mission like this in the first place. It was proof of just how hard Shikadai and his team had been working. As a father, he couldn’t help but smile.