"So, just to make this clear to my poor mind, I got three marriage contracts."
"Offers," Mom corrected calmly, sitting in front of me as we enjoyed some tea alone in the living room.
My return to Konoha had been outright chaotic. I did expect emotions to run high, but for Yoshiko to outright state her claim, quite strongly, in front of Musashi... it created a few non-negligible issues. I should have expected for that pandora box to detonate within the early days of my arrival, I just didn't expect it to be as explosive and as immediate as it proved to be.
I knew that puberty was a strong reason why she acted that way, plus loneliness, plus boredom, plus her lingering crush emboldened by the distance between us and the chances of me dying in that month away from the village. Still, I had not realized just yet in that moment that the situation was far more complex than I could have ever thought.
As people helped Yoshiko off of me and she mutually glared holes on Kaguya and Musashi's heads in regard to my relationship status, I was given the chance to speak alone with Hashirama. I had told him about Isshiki no longer being an issue, how I had learned a lot in the Land of Iron and how I expected him to have a written contract for me to sign as to prevent any potential chance of me getting that hat.
That last bit had surprised the Senju, but not for the reasons many expected- the man had indeed set plans to have me take over as a future Hokage. Not the Second when Tobirama was already lining up for that, but perhaps as the Third. As ironic as that was considering how it went in the original timeline, I wasn't planning to stress myself any further, especially when I could tell that my life situation was going to be difficult with puberty around the corner, with a big family to manage and this new development hitting me quite hard.
Hashirama said that I had contracts pending on potential marriages, my mother, after 'surprising' me that she ended up pregnant with Madara's kid and thus had just done it once with him through the entire trip much to the long-haired Uchiha's chagrin and blue-balling, told me that I had offers which I had all the means to deliver a 'yes' or a 'no' since I was recognized as an adult in the Village.
The three contracts were all penned by major clans too, which meant I was in quite the hot potato setup:
1) At Mito's behest, Yoshiko was to be married to me out of the fact I had 'avenged' her father and the people of Uzukagure were interested in having a binding friendship with Konoha that further expanded on the one between Mito and Hashirama, this time seeing someone from Konoha going to Uzukagure to serve as the 'ruling consort' of Yoshiko as the future leader of the Clan and village;
2) At Clan Leader Hayato Hyuga's behest, Himeko was meant to marry me due to the need to 'salvage a potential friendship' in the name of reforms within the clan. If I joined, I would be recognized as a bearer of the Hyuga clan name, but I wouldn't be forced to drop the Shimura clan name- instead, I would attain both with the Shimura bit as the main. Hayato made it clear this was meant to kill two birds with a stone- His daughter got what she wanted, and the clan got reformed to lose up the archaic laws that had dictated the creation of the branch sealed clan. A bit on the scummy side, but there was a sidenote in the contract where Himeko actually 'allowed me to pursuit extra-marital relationships in the name of fostering our bond in a troubled environment' or 'I will let you go for other girls if I still get to be called the main wife'. Which was literally an invitation to Harem;
3) Madara had been nagged by Reira's parents to set up a contract, and Reira had been rather unwilling to 'force the issue'. Despite that seemingly positive last bit, the girl still found it reasonable to convey her feelings and craving to at least date over it and... bring the others to these dates too- in fact, the third option was pretty much less of a contract and more of a request to give it a shot in a more freer way, going as far as saying that 'mere friendship' was fine. 'Mere friendship with benefits' was even finer.
Yep, everyone got thirsty for me and it was quite worrying to an extent. Like, this debacle had long been expected- I knew it was coming, I knew that it would come together with the baggage that was puberty, both for myself and the girls, but I didn't expect to be left in such a messy predicament out of the blue.
And while many in high and condescending positions would lament that I had already ruled out any acceptance of this situation, I also didn't expect to be struck by puberty and to be subjected to it the same way as other individuals my age. There also the fact that the amoral aspect of this was that I had an older mind but... it was also true the issue of that was the chance of 'grooming' girls into being something they shouldn't be 'trained' to do. I had done all I could to prevent that and yet the outcome came through nonetheless, so this was all natural in all aspects of it- it was genuine, it was... not something I could reject. Not in the long-run at least.
As a little kid, that would have been freaky, but as I was getting at the right age to experiment relationships, would it be really wrong on the general aspect of it all to concede to some of it? Just because the girls were owed something in the form of an answer that wasn't motivated by 'unknown reasons'?
"Still," My mother's voice ruptured the lengthy thought on the topic, making me realize she had a thoughtful look on her face too. "I have to say that you have brought two lovable girls too- Well, Musashi is a girl but Kaguya is..."
"Mature."
Mom nodded. "Kaguya is mature, and yet interested to you. Madara told me that her circumstance is unique- immortal and perhaps the mother of the Sage of the Six Path now lacking her former powers."
The woman paused to sip, leaving me hanging for a while before sighing.
"What do you intend to do about this at the moment?"
"Nothing serious or dangerous? I know she is older than me, more experienced than me and clearly in the mood to 'eat me up'."
Her lips twitched. "At least my son learned how to handle peculiar women right. I hope this doesn't mean you will also become a full-on womanizer."
"I would never," I rebuked softly, taking a tiny break to sip from my cup and relax in the mostly empty room as I knew we weren't alone.
...
"...So, is there a particular reason Gura is currently spying on us from the ceiling?" I finally asked, and I perceived the shark-girl tensing up at being caught and letting out a soft 'A'. Then, out of nowhere, she dropped down to the floor, and knelt beside me with a bright smile on her face. "Hi Gura."
"Ohayo~, may I ask your hand now that your mother is here~?" She smoothly asked.
"If you do that, I may have to put you in the naughty chair and leave you there for a hour," I replied even smoother, causing her to fake-cry.
"Aaaaa."
This is not going to be easy on me, that much I could tell. I also couldn't help but wonder how Kaguya and Musashi were doing. I knew that the latter went out to train with Hanzou, but Kaguya was with...
Ina.
Ootsutsuki Kaguya was not good at drawing. She used to draw doodles out of boredom before becoming a goddess, but she never really saw a point in delving in that art.
Right now, said activity she was engaged with was not meant to be a competition but part of her felt slightly 'wounded' at the sight of a much younger and sillier girl easily outmatching her skills like that. It didn't help that said girl was by far the worst threat she could ever face in case she tried anything risky to either obtain more power or, as it became a necessity as of recently, securing an intimate relationship with her potential puppet-turned caretaker.
"You wish to make a deal with me, child?"
"Yep," Ina replied happily as she added the final touches of the Kaguya's portrait she was drawing, pleasing her to a degree with that gesture. "I wish for you to help me, help you and thus helping others."
"...What?"
"You seek my brother in a lewd fashion, like a cougar-"
"I-I am not hunting him," She half-whined, but Ina seemed to care nothing of that.
"Irrelevant, you want him but you know he is not going to touch you unless he is a bit older. I know of a method to speed up that process and also help myself and others in the process."
An alliance of sort in the name of... a win-win circumstance? Now, Kaguya was intrigued.
"How so?"
"Well, you help my brother sort out the woes of his current romantic paths, you secure them so that he is happy to have a big family and he would see you as someone reliable and trustworthy."
It made sense to Kaguya. If she was acting in a supportive and positive way, then any form of distrust would break faster than what a mere promise to 'be good' would achieve in the long-run. She did have plans to do something like this, but had no focus on where to act. Aiding his issues in love may be one way to not only help him but also open his mind to the chance of sharing.
It was ideal, it was... actually a very good way to entertain her current plans in that regard. Yet, Kaguya was not simple-minded and could perceive both in the girl's words and resolve that something went beyond merely helping her brother. Something just told her that this more was relevant to her plans too.
"Why do you seek to help your brother in that path when it could be easier to just let him chose a simpler choice?"
"That's because 'simple' is not what he should strive for," Ina rebuked mirthfully, finishing the portrait and showing it to Kaguya. "I think my brother has many good reasons to look for a simple life, but he also know that it is not an option. Or rather, the concept of 'simple' is not the same as many normal people would call it due to where he is now. If he wish to find happiness, he has to compromise the fact he needs to make others happy too to an extent."
That was a reasonable enough point and Kaguya could to an extent relate to it. Even as a Goddess, she had tried so much to give her sons a chance to be 'normal' within the divine concepts and settings they were born and nurtured in, but it all fell flat because she allowed too many restrictions and the rebellious phases they had matured into an outright revolt against her.
Would things have been different had she been just a bit more benevolent? Perhaps, but it was needed from her to be ready for the other Ootsutsuki clan members invading to check what went wrong with this realm. They were going to come to control the situation, but with Danzou around that option was not going to be worrisome. Him and others- maybe his descendants too. Many descendants, some of which bearing her blood too.
That pleased her immensely and yet her mind quickly brought her to another topic.
"...By the way, is there are reason young Hanzou has been avoiding me?"
The question was met with a giggle. "Oh, he likes women with big boobs and he was embarrassed by how gorgeous you look."
As a mother, this amused her deeply and she couldn't hold a brief chuckle. Yet, Kaguya also realized there was a big question that needed some answer.
Is Danzou a boobs-lover too?