After depositing the banknotes, we made our way to the Compound, wishing to see our new home.
It was located Southeast of both the Hyuuga and Uchiha Compounds, below an underused training ground, Training Ground 17. Hearing that we would be living close not only to the arrogant Hyuuga's, but also close to where a clan was massacred, was irking. However, we can't exactly do anything about it.
Avoiding the roads leading to the Hyuuga compound, we eventually arrived in front of a large, derelict gate. Four dull gold letters adorned the front, some hanging on slightly. Turning towards Anko, I asked "Feel anything, seeing this?"
She scoffed, looking at me. "'Course not. Why would I care about some old area I've never been in?"
Sighing, I pushed open the door. Why bother asking her about sentimentality or emotions? She has the emotional range of a teaspoon; happy, angry, horny. That's it.
Looking past the opened gate, my eyes widened in surprise. Although overrun with vegetation, the various buildings were quite beautiful, even though they needed desperate repair. Slowly making my way in, I looked around, smiling. I could almost see what this place... what our home would look like.
To our left was a small building, with empty panes for a roof. Seeing the husk of a greenhouse, I turned towards my girls. Seeing their slight frowns, I sighed before turning back. Looking right, I saw a short row of buildings, likely homes for the branch members or just extra housing. However, the main attraction was in front of us. A path wound up towards the main house.
A single story, it was a large building. It was a large square with a short room jutting out the left side. The tile roof was damaged, the wood rotted, and cobblestone foundation cracked slightly, and the paper doors and walls were torn. However, looking past the obvious decay, it was simple and elegant. A porch was on the right side, offering a view of the large field in front of the house. I walked down the path, intent on exploring.
Hearing my girls shuffling behind me, my smile widened. Like I was in a Genjutsu, I felt like I could see our older selves sitting on the porch, watching our children, and their children playing in the field, enjoying life. I looked at the front door, and sliding it open, I admired the foyer. Simple stone flooring, wooden shelves on the wall, and on the left wall was a torn scroll. Looking closer, I saw that it was a simple landscape with a cherry blossom as the focus. Looking at the edges, I saw a signature. Peering closer, it read 'Megumi Mitarashi'.
"Anko, did you know a 'Megumi Mitarashi'?"
"Nope~"
Turning, I saw that she was more focused on me than the house. Kurenai was looking around, but she was clearly disinterested. Sighing again, I stepped onto the wood floor, looking down both hallways.
"Left or right?"
"Whichever gets us out of here and into a bed faster."
I glared at Anko, making her smirk. Turning left, I walked down the hall, admiring the few scrolls that were still intact. More landscapes, some portraits, and simple calligraphy decorated the walls. It seems like the Mitarashi's used to be quite an artistic family... pity that didn't get passed to Anko.
Reaching the end of the hall, there were three doors. One on the right, two on the left. The hall turned right.
Opening the right door, I looked in the room. Filled with shelves, I assumed it was a storage room.
Opening the closest left door, it was a smaller room, a broken table in the center. The windows overlooked a small rock garden that had been hidden by the tall grass. Looking towards my right, I saw a door that connected to the other room. Opening it, I realized that the room jutting out was the kitchen. The floor had transitioned from wood to stone, and numerous counters and stoves hugged the walls. In the center was a long table, covered in dust and rotted wooden utensils.
All my life I had a small kitchen, barely able to move around. Looking at this, I couldn't wait to make something big. After admiring the kitchen, I exited the room, continuing my tour of the building.
Halfway down the hall, a door on the right opened to show the center of the compound. A beautiful rock garden, what looked like a small zen garden in another corner, and a pond in the opposite corner, it was a beautiful space, and considering how it rained very briefly each year, this space looked perfect to relax on days off.
Hearing the sighs of Anko and Kurenai, I turned towards them, frowning at their disinterest.
"Alright you two, if you don't want to be here, go outside and play. However, that means that I will be making all decisions regarding the house."
Anko scoffed, moving closer to me. Pressing her forehead against mine, she said "Fine with me. All I need is a bed and a woman warming it~"
Flicking her forehead, I turned towards Kurenai, who seemed apologetic. "Sorry, Koko. This..." Gesturing around at the derelict house, "Simply doesn't interest me. Maybe living as a shinobi has changed me, but like Anko said, as long as there is a bed, it works."
Pinching her cheek, I sighed. I couldn't truly blame them. The reason I was so enthusiastic was because it has always been my dream to have a place like this, and to have a large family to fill it. Yet most Shinobi were truly content with just a simple small room, filled with just the bare necessities.
I continued on, determined to finish my tour. The entire back of the house was filled with bedrooms and empty rooms. The left side were smaller, while the right side was larger. In the middle was a pair of bathrooms, both equal in size. Going down the right side of the house, the rooms were relatively empty, allowing me to decide what to fill them with.
When we got back to the front door, Anko yawned.
"We finally done? This looks like a lot of work, which means a lot of money. We should probably start with that large room in the back right, then the kitchen. After those we can slowly get the rest done..."
I nodded. This... this would take quite a while. However, looking around, I was determined to do whatever I needed to do to make my dream come true.
Grabbing Anko and Kurenai's hand, I lead them out of the compound.
"Let's get something to eat, then you two can go do whatever while I start making my way around different craftsmen to get appraisals done for the house. If you both are truly bored, go take some missions. We need to earn more than 250,000 ryo a month, ideally earning 350,000 at least. Which means a lot of missions."
Both of them nodded, letting me lead them towards Ichiraku Ramen. Eating quickly, they both said goodbye, going to grab a mission together. Seeing that they weren't explicitly fighting each other, instead just bickering and setting a bet with each other, I smiled.
Making my way around Konoha, I gathered quite a few craftsmen, showing them around the compound. When each was ready to give an appraisal, I took them to the side, deciding to make it so each person had no idea what the others were offering.
The lowest price was 50,000 a room, while the highest was 200,000 a room. Giving them both the appraisal fee, I told them to leave. The remaining two had given me reasonable prices; 75,000 and 100,000. Both were from reputable companies, both had contracts with certain clans, which meant that they were definitely good.
However, the company offering 100,000 was throwing in landscaping, while the other wasn't. This company worked with the Nara, Akimichi, and Yamanaka clans, while the other did work for some of the Hyuuga and Inuzuka clans.
Showing the craftsmen the bedroom and kitchen, I told him these were the two rooms that needed to be completed as quickly as possible. While the kitchen needed the appliances and pipes for gas, water, and so on, the bedroom needed little else. When he offered to furnish the rooms as well, I told him that wasn't necessary.
Walking with him to the bank, we haggled over the overall price of the main building. After all, some rooms were really small, like that room next to the kitchen, while some needed more, like the kitchen and bathrooms.
Moving the prices of the smaller rooms down to 60,000, while managing to make the larger rooms 120,000, we finalized the overall price to 1,140,000, with the house having 5 large rooms and 9 small rooms. I had decided to knock the walls down between a few of the absolutely tiny rooms, opening up more space.
On top of the 1,140,000 was the labor costs and material costs, which was initially raising the price to 3,000,000, however after haggling and deciding that we didn't need extremely extravagant materials, meaning that buying in bulk would be cheaper, the new price came to 2,500,000. Sadly the house wasn't built with the materials we had today, so they had been damaged easily, meaning they would have to be replaced.
Telling me it would be a 3 month job, and that I would be allowed to pay in installments, as long as a contract was signed, I agreed, signing the contract that we would pay over the next 5 months, meaning we would be paying 500,000 a month plus the 250,000 in taxes. Seeing that number, I could feel my head beginning to hurt as I tried determining the best way to be able to pay it off.
Saying goodbye to the craftsmen, I found the teller from earlier, deciding to practically empty my account to help pay for the house.
Seeing the savings from almost a decade, being roughly 850,000, go down to 100,000 made me feel hollow.
Sighing, I made my way back to the compound, deciding to rest for a bit before I would go grab a mission.
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Yeah, so this chapter was kinda boring, I know. However, I felt it was needed, as this lets you all know what the girls are going to be working for. Let me know though if it was... too boring.
Anyways, missions soon, maybe some lemons, so yeah... I hope you enjoy!
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