Naruto: New Begining

In the northeastern region of the land of fire, just after the blistering heat of the summer ended, a small village was bustling with activity. It was planting season and the whole village was participating, after all this was a village of rice farmers where generations of rice farmers have nurtured the best rice in all of the land of fire. The farmers of this village had the great honor of being the sole supplier of the Daimyo's palace for many decades.

Rice was a matter of honor for this peaceful village and so they all busied themselves with work; Getting the fields ready, selecting the seeds, watering the fields, planting the seeds, everything required great care and attention.

So when a group of liters appeared on the road leading to this village, it was distracting, after all it was rare for someone to come at this time of the year and in such a high profile manner. Luckily, these farmers had grown somewhat accustomed to this; ever since the owner of these lands was assassinated and another one was appointed, there had been constant arrival of nobles from all over the country.

The farmers all simply glanced at the passing procession before attending back to work, "How long do you think this one will stay?" spoke as elderly man with an amusing smile.

"Look at all the guards, I bet he will make a real scene! Heheh." his friend spoke. Their chat had the attention of everyone closeby as they all wondered the same.

"Humph! Who cares! Who tells them to come and disturb our peace? Serves them well!" an elderly woman commented while gesturing to the others to keep working. The elderly men fake coughed before speaking, "Heeey~ Come on Takashi's mom, we are just having some fun, at least things haven't been boring since Lord Shin came here; we get to see nobles being beaten black and blue for trying to act out! Heheh when have we ever seen such a thing before?" the other men nodded in acknowledgement.

"You want me to beat you black and blue! Get back to work and stop wasting time!" the woman snapped at him, causing others to chuckle at him.

"Your wife is still so lively at this age!" the elderly man's friend commented.

"Ah, forget it! Just go back to work!" the elderly man spoke with anger before walking to his wife and trying to sweet talk her.

Meanwhile, the noble procession had reached the Lord's mansion and an elderly man with a white beard and an elegant demeanor exited the litter as a servant from the manor ran up to him, "Lord Matsudaira! Welcome! I apologize, we were not informed of your arrival!" the servant bowed deeply.

The elderly nobel simply waved him off, "It's nothing, where is Lord Hirano?"

The servant bowed once more while replying, "He is planting the seeds in the fields! He should be here shortly!"

Lord Matsudaira nodded while walking to the edge of the hill where the manor was located, overseeing the numerous taresses where countless people were busy planting rice. It was a beautiful place, the valley was surrounded by hills and mountains and green fields as far as the eye could see.

One of the workers below him looked towards him and started to walk in his direction. Once the worker got close, he greeted the man with a smile, "Lord Matsudaira, what brings you here?"

The elderly man looked at him with a raised eyebrow, the young man in front of him was nearly covered in dirt, the wet clothes were sticking to him and his hands and feet were coated in mud.

Lord Matsudaira felt an annoyance as this peasant for speaking to him in such a casual manner but he didn't let it show, the rumors of Shin's protective nature had reached the Daimyo's court in the form of complaints, from the various nobles that had come to visit Shin, which the ruler had dismissed while laughing.

The elderly man simply glanced at him before looking away, "I have an important matter to discuss with Lord Hirano." The man hoped that this farmer would take the hint and leave but on the contrary, the young man started to walk towards the mension, "Let's talk in the garden then."

The elder noble was confused and was about to reprimand him when the servant that had greeted him as the dirty farmer instructed him to prepare for tea. Lord Matsudaira stood there for a moment, 'He wasn't supervising the plantation but doing it instead!? What kind of noble acts like that?'

Shin led Lord Matsudaira to the back garden where children were playing around and a few servants were trying to teach them the various lessons on gardening while the rest chased around Pineapple. "Alright kids, run along now, I got work to do!" Seeing Shin come in, the children ran up to him, some of them asking for another lesson in fighting while others wanted him to breathe fire while the younger ones wanted upsies.

The servants quickly dragged them away before they could cause more trouble and the two nobles sat down at the pavilion in the center, "My apologies Lord Matsudaira, if you had informed me of your arrival I would have prepared an appropriate welcome."

The old man quickly shook his head, "No no, it's my fault. But I have to say lord Hirano, you truly are an odd one. Nobles are leaders and rulers, they must maintain a certain distance from their subjects or else they will lose their respect and without respect they cannot have loyalty." he advised the young noble.

Shin pet Pineapple as she jumped onto his lap, "I've always found love to be a stronger force than loyalty. Loyalty changes with every new lord and is bought and sold like fish in the market. But love is eternal lord Matsudaira, no one can buy love and no one can take it away."

The elderly man stroked his long beard as he observed Shin with a deep gaze, "You are quite the romantic Lord Hirano… I suppose this does make me more relaxed regarding the matter I've come to discuss today."

The servant bought some tea with an assortment of delicacies to go with it, he served the tea before excusing himself and standing away from the earshot.

Matsudaira picked up the tea and sipped it, instantly his eyes brightened, "This tea is… incredible! I've never tasted something like this before!" he praised while drinking some more slowly to savor its unique taste.

"It's a gift from a far away land, you won't find it anywhere on this continent." Shin informed him as he picked up the tea cup.

A look of realization dawned on Matsudaira as he nodded, "Ah, it must be the sage you learned under. I had heard the rumors, I suppose that is why you speak with such wisdom."

After Matsudaira had drunk the tea, he straightened up and got down to business, "Lord Hirano, I've come today on behalf of the Daimyo to discuss a marriage proposal with his daughter, the princess Youhi."

Shin raised an eyebrow and put down his cup, "Isn't the princess still too young?"

Matsudaira shook his head, "Only a few years younger than yourself, the marriage will not be for a few more years so there is no rush. But I should inform you that the betrothal is still necessary as there are many nobles vying for her hand."

Shin smiled at Matsudaira, "I suppose lord Daimyo is rather restless these days. Having a powerful ninja in the capital would deter many plotters."

Matsudaira chuckled slightly, "Well I suppose I should have expected this much from Konoha's best hunter. That is true, shadows loom over the capital, there are nobles plotting for another war and those against it find their families become targets of conspiracies and tragedies. You have protected the daimyo and his family and as an outsider, you have no faction. The daimyo trusts you and you have the support of Konoha; you may no longer be a part of the village anymore but I know the hokage, he will not let one of his own be left helpless. I implore you to accept this." the man bowed slightly.

Shin remained in silence for a moment, petting the cat on his lap before looking up again, "And you are willing to put your granddaughter on the line for this?"

The daimyo had two wives, his main wife from the ancient and powerful Matsudaira clan which had served the daimyo's family for generations. In fact the blood ties between the two families were so thick that the Matsudaira could be considered royalty instead of mere nobility. Sadly, Lady Matsudaira was unable to give any successful births and looking for an heir, the daimyo re married, his new wife gave him two sons.

This caused a shift of power as the family of his new wife, the Inoue clan, would likely become the family of the next daimyo. The daimyo himself loved lady Matsudaira as they were childhood sweethearts so he often visited her, hoping for a miracle and their love finally bore fruit but there was only disappointment; lady Matsudaira gave birth to a daughter and another one a few years later.

Regardless, princess Youhi was lord Matsudaira's granddaughter and Shin had just asked him if he was so willing to sacrifice his granddaughter just to protect the daimyo. Because after Shin decided to go against the conspirators, they would also go against his weakness which would put her directly in harm's way. The marriage was necessary as Shin would be legally bound to the royal family and have every excuse to attack daimyo's enemies and unlike the temporary protection from a guard, this will bind Shin for life.

Lord Matsudaira remained silent for a bit before speaking, "Of course I had some reservations but our family has served the royal clan for many generations. Say what you will about loyalty, Lord Hirano, but for some of us, that is all we know, it is our way of life, it is how we live and how we will die."

"As a citizen of this country, I have a duty to safeguard it against its enemies, both internal and external. I am honored by this proposal Lord Matsudaira and I accept it. I will go to the capital as soon as I am able." Shin bowed, accepting the marriage proposal and all the strings that came with it.

Lord Matsudaira left soon after and the news of Shin's betrothal spread like wildfire, reaching everywhere. The daimyo wanted everyone to know that the royal family was not under the protection of a powerful ninja. This also put Shin under a spotlight as anyone that wanted to harm the royal family had to first get rid of Shin.