Song of the day - Bad Dreams by Teddy Swims
I was listening to it while writing, also it's like 9 or 10 PM on the west coast so technically it's still saturday.
A few things to mention at the end of the chapter theres a special thanks to the readers that i know about in FF.net.
Also a thing to note, this chapter is completely in third person let me know if you guys like it better In 3rd or 1st person.
Words - 2590
The room grew still after Mabui's quiet admission.
"I would prefer we decide some things for ourselves."
Those words stayed in Antares' head longer than Fujimi's talk of heirs, wives, and duty ever could.
For the first time since stepping into the room, something felt real.
Not the arrangement.
Not dumb politics.
Not the cold arithmetic talks of clan restoration and bloodlines.
'And honestly it's not that bad. She is one of my waifus along with Samui and honestly gorgeous women that any man would give an arm and maybe a leg to be with.'
But Her…
Up until that moment, everything had sounded like two old men sitting across a table and deciding what shape the next twenty years of his life would take. Marriage at sixteen. An heir by nineteen. Additional wives later. Everything measured, planned, placed into neat little boxes as if he were not a person but a weapon that needed the proper maintenance schedule.
Antares kept his face controlled, but his thoughts were moving fast.
So this is it.
This is how it starts.
Not with romance. Not with choice. Not even with discussion.
A room. A table.some tea. Two of the most influential men speaking about the future like they own it.
He could not even say Fujimi was wrong. That was the worst part. The logic was sound in the way a blade was sound. Sharp. Efficient. Useful. Also cold enough to cut the life out of anything soft that got near it. Not like he was basically selling his daughter away.
He hated that he understood it.
He hated it even more that some part of him respected it and respected him for his decision.
This world was not like his old one. He had learned that much already. Here, power was bloodline, bloodline was influence, and influence was survival. A careless clan died. A weak clan was swallowed. A strong clan endured. Men like Ay and Fujimi did not think in years, they thought in generations.
That did not make being planned around any less irritating and frustrating…
Antares looked at Mabui again.
She had spoken carefully, but not falsely. He could tell. She had not smiled and accepted everything like a proper future wife was supposed to. She had not rebelled either. She had simply asked for space inside the cage.
That, at least, he understood.
He let out a slow breath.
Maybe this will not be as bad as I thought.
Then again another thought came immediately after.
'Or maybe that's exactly how these things become tolerable. Piece by piece, until you wake up one day and realize you accepted something because it was easier than fighting it.'
Ay remained standing, broad and imposing even in silence. Fujimi stood across from him, calm as stone, hands folded within his sleeves. Darui watched with that half-lidded look of his, though Antares could tell he was paying close attention now. Karui's posture had gone rigid, eyes moving from face to face. The room felt like it was balanced on a thin line between ceremony and something more personal.
….
Antares decided to cut through it before the moment hardened again.
"If this is settled," he said, his voice level, "then I want it spoken clearly."
Ay's eyes shifted to him. "Clearly?"
"Yes." Antares straightened. "Not just said in the room and left hanging in the air. If this is an agreement between houses, if this is a proposal, then write it. State it. Let everyone here know exactly what's being promised and exactly what's expected."
A flicker crossed Fujimi's eyes.
Approval.
Not warmth, but approval.
Ay folded his arms. "You want it formal."
"I want it real," Antares replied. "If I'm old enough to have my future discussed in front of me, then I'm old enough to hear and see the exact terms."
The words came out more evenly than he felt.
Inside, his thoughts were less calm.
And if I'm going to be bound, then I'd rather be bound by words I can see than by assumptions other people get to twist later.
Fujimi inclined his head slightly. "A sensible position."
Mabui glanced at Antares, and for the briefest second there was something in her expression that looked almost like relief.
Not because he had agreed.
Because he had insisted on terms.
Good, he thought. At least she understands what I'm doing.
Fujimi turned toward Karui posted on the left side of Ay at the side of the room. "My dear, please bring paper. Ink. and brush."
Karui bowed and moved at once.
Nobody spoke while they waited. The silence felt different now. Not oppressive. Expectant.
Antares was aware of everything. The faint scent of tea. The polished wood under his sandals. The quiet scrape of cloth as Mabui adjusted her hands in her lap. The way Ay seemed completely at ease with moments like this. Of course he was. A man like his father had probably spent half his life making choices that settled other people's fates.
Antares wondered, not for the first time, how much of Ay's strength came from conviction and how much came from simply never allowing himself to hesitate.
The materials were set down on the table.
Fujimi seated himself first, then motioned for Ay to do the same. He took up the brush with practiced ease.
Antares watched the older man pause before the page.
"You asked for clarity," Fujimi said. "Then listen."
He began to write, speaking each line as the brush moved.
"On this day, in mutual recognition of standing, trust, and political accord between the noble House Kaminari and the Ruling House Ryosuke, it is proposed and accepted that Antares, son of Ay the 3rd, shall be formally betrothed to Mabui, daughter of Fujimi."
The brush moved with clean confidence.
"The union shall be recognized by both families immediately and solemnized in marriage upon both parties reaching the age of sixteen."
Antares kept his expression even, though hearing it spoken so plainly made it feel heavier.
Not an idea anymore.
Not a suggestion.
A path.
Fujimi continued.
"Until that time, both parties shall be granted proper opportunity to become acquainted under family supervision and with due respect for decorum, with the aim of establishing mutual understanding before the marriage is enacted."
Antares blinked once.
That was smarter than he expected.
Not kindness but strategy. But useful all the same.
He shifted his attention to Mabui.
She was watching her father write, but her eyes moved once toward Antares. There was thought in them. Not fear. Not surrender. Thought.
Fujimi wrote the next lines without pause.
"After the marriage, Mabui shall be recognized as first wife and primary lady of the household unless altered by extraordinary agreement between House Kaminari and House Ryosuke."
Karui's eyes widened slightly at that. Darui's brows rose.
Antares absorbed the phrase quickly.
Primary lady.
So Mabui heard it too. Not just wife. First position. First authority.
Fujimi went on.
"In accordance with the Clan Restoration Act and by rights afforded to one of Antares' standing, additional wives may be taken in time, not exceeding six in total, for the purpose of stability, alliance, and continuation of the Uzumaki and Ryosuke bloodline."
Antares resisted the urge to sigh.
There it is again. Turn a person into policy and it all sounds clean.
Then came the line he had expected.
"It is further expected that the line of Antares shall produce at least one heir no later than his nineteenth year, barring circumstances deemed extraordinary by both House Kaminari and House Ryosuke."
The room was silent except for the faint stroke of brush on paper.
Antares' jaw tightened slightly.
There it was. Fixed in ink.
His life, reduced to milestones.
Yet even now, he could not deny the value of having it written. At least now nobody could pretend later that nothing had been said. At least now it was not only memory and pressure. It was terms.
Fujimi finished with a final sentence.
"Let this agreement stand as a pledge of intention, honor, and mutual investment in the future of both houses."
He placed the brush down.
Then, with surprising care, he turned the paper slightly so Ay could read it in full.
The Raikage's eyes moved over the text. His face gave little away, but Antares knew him well enough to see satisfaction in the set of his shoulders.
Ay looked up. "This is acceptable."
Fujimi gave a single nod. "Then state it."
Ay placed one large hand flat on the table. "I, Ay the 3rd, accept this proposal on behalf of House Kaminari and acknowledge Mabui of House Ryosuke as the future first wife of my son, Antares."
Antares felt Mabui go still.
Not in rejection. In awareness.
Words mattered here. Spoken before witnesses, they became weight and tend to settle heavy on your shoulders.
Fujimi answered at once. "I, Fujimi of House Ryosuke, offer my daughter Mabui in formal betrothal to Antares, son of Ay the 3rd of House Kaminari, and recognize the union as binding in honor from this day forward."
Both men signed the contract.
Then the two stood.
There was no flourish to it. No ceremony beyond the one they created by presence alone.
Ay extended his hand.
Fujimi took it.
Their clasp was firm and brief, but it carried more force than any signature.
That was it.
Done.
Not a dream. Not a genjutsu.
Real.
Antares stared at their joined hands for half a second longer than he meant to.
'So that's how my engagement begins' he thought. Not with flowers or promises. With ink, duty, and a handshake between men who believe they are building the future.
He should have felt trapped.
He did, partly.
But not only that.
Because when he looked at Mabui, he found her watching the handshake too, and there was something in her face he recognized instantly.
Not happiness.
Not despair.
But firm Resolve.
Good, he thought. You're not sleepwalking through this either.
When the hands parted, the pressure in the room eased just enough for ordinary breathing to return.
Darui let out a quiet exhale through his nose. Karui crossed her arms but said nothing. Even the attendants seemed to understand they had just watched something important settle into place.
Ay looked toward Antares. "You asked for clarity. You have it."
"I do," Antares said.
Fujimi turned to his daughter. "Mabui."
She rose smoothly, though Antares caught the small delay before she fully straightened.
Nervous, then.
Noted.
"Mabui," Fujimi repeated, softer this time, "do you accept this path?"
The question surprised Antares.
It was not full freedom. Not even close. But it was still a question.
Mabui lowered her eyes for a moment, then looked first at her father, then at Ay, and finally at Antares.
When she spoke, her voice was steady.
"I accept the betrothal."
Then she paused.
Antares watched her carefully.
"But I also accept what was said before."
Fujimi's brow shifted slightly. "Meaning?"
Mabui looked directly at Antares now.
"If this is to be the future of House Kaminari and House Ryosuke, then some part of it should still belong to us. I will do my duty. I understand what is expected of me. But I would rather stand beside a husband I know than one I am merely assigned to be with."
The room went quiet again.
Antares felt something in his chest loosen.
'That was very honest of her...'
Not soft. Not dramatic. Just honest.
He gave a small nod. "That makes two of us."
A very faint change touched Mabui's face. Not quite a smile, but close enough to count.
Ay watched the exchange without interruption. So did Fujimi.
Antares decided to move before either of them shifted the room back into pure formality.
He stepped forward half a pace and looked directly at Fujimi.
"Since the proposal is written and accepted, I have a request."
Ay's eyes narrowed slightly, not in anger but in curiosity. Fujimi simply waited.
Antares kept his tone respectful.
"You said this engagement is immediate, but the marriage is not. You also said we should be given opportunity to become acquainted."
Fujimi nodded once. "I did."
"Then I'm asking for that now." Antares glanced briefly at Mabui, then back to her father. "Not alone without boundaries. I know better than that. But time. A walk in the estate gardens. A supervised conversation somewhere that does not feel like a negotiation table. If she is to be my fiancée, then I would like to speak to her as a person."
The words hung in the air.
Antares could feel Ay watching him closely now.
It struck him suddenly that his father was probably measuring more than manners. He was judging whether Antares had the restraint, seriousness, and sense to ask properly.
Good, Antares thought. Then let him see it.
Fujimi studied him for several long seconds.
Antares held the gaze.
In his head, the thought was simpler than the moment.
Come on, old man. You can plan heirs and wives and alliances all day, but if you want this arrangement to work, then let me actually know the girl.
At last, Fujimi looked toward Mabui.
She did not look away.
Then he looked back to Antares.
"That request," he said, "is appropriate."
Karui blinked. Darui's mouth twitched into the beginning of a grin.
Fujimi continued, "You may have one hour in the eastern garden. A servant will remain within sight. No further liberties."
Antares inclined his head. "That's fair."
Ay gave a short grunt that might have been approval. "Good. Better to begin now than let awkwardness grow."
Fujimi turned slightly toward Mabui. "Go with him."
Mabui bowed her head. "Yes, Father."
For the first time since the conversation began, Antares felt something close to balance settle in the room. Not because the arrangement had become ideal. It had not. Not even remotely. But because within all the duty and structure and expectation, a small space had been carved out that belonged to them.
He looked at Mabui.
She met his gaze.
This time, there was no wall in it. Only caution, intelligence, and the faintest trace of curiosity.
That, Antares could work with.
As the attendants moved to clear the table and the written proposal dried in the open air, Antares found himself thinking that maybe the future was not something he could stop.
But it was still something he could shape.
Even here.
Even now.
He stepped to the side and gestured toward the doorway with quiet politeness.
"After you."
Mabui studied him for one brief second, then moved.
Right after they left the room
Tenrai ("Heavenly Thunder")!"
The captain of the BOLT squad guarding the tower answered
"Sir"
"Follow them and make sure they are safe"
…
He vanished in a lighting shunshin with only a wisp of light disappearing where he stud moments prior.
—
As they passed beyond the heavy atmosphere of the room and toward the hall leading to the eastern garden, Antares let out a breath he had not realized he had been holding.
His engagement had just been decided in ink and sealed by handshake.
His life was still being arranged by people older, stronger, and more politically dangerous than he was in this new reality Manga/Anime world called Naruto.
He still hated parts of that.
Probably always would.
But now, at least, he had something real to work with.
A name.
A face.
A voice.
A girl who did not want to be reduced to just duty any more than he did.
And for the first time that day, Antares thought the next conversation might actually matter more than the proposal itself.
—--
Before now I didn't have a clue I had so many people following and favoring the story on FF.net.
I am utterly speechless and very much grateful for you guys. Kisses for you all (No homo)
This is for the ones over at FF.net
Super special thanks to zoobiexkins99, Den of Fables, FelixFire3, BurstEvolution9000, jimmylmoody, jvines1, Benjamin Geiger, latcham60, Soleus.
And for the OG's the Day ones - Hellfire Uchiha, DragonOfChallenges, Jack149 the ones that at 2 - 3 AM started reading my Fic
Inglesluis05 my first commenter