The Land of Waves representative sat rigidly in front of the Hokage's desk. Fugaku Uchiha rested his chin on his steepled fingers, his piercing gaze observing the bowing man intently.
Nagisa looked utterly exhausted. His clothes, though expensive and formal, hung loosely on a thinning frame, acting as a silent testament to the desperation he carried with him.
"Please, Nagisa-san. I told you, you do not need to bow. The fact that you are here to hire Konoha shinobi is something we appreciate. That trust matters more than anything."
Nagisa raised his head. The careful tension and cold sweat were clear on his forehead.
"I wouldn't dare treat you so casually, Hokage-sama. I am just a civilian representative sent to beg for Konoha's help." He swallowed hard, his voice trembling as the nightmare of his home flashed in his eyes.
"Our land is under absolute assault. The streets of our port city are stained with blood, and the bodies of our people are left out in the open alleys as warnings. Civilians are caught in the crossfire of violent, unchecked gang wars. They burn our storehouses and sink any merchant ship that refuses to pay their now ridiculous fees to fund their war. Our trade and food imports have almost entirely stopped. If this continues, Lord Hokage, we are not just facing poverty. We are on the brink of total famine. Our children are already starving."
Fugaku absorbed the grim report, his expression remaining perfectly composed but deadly serious.
"That is very concerning. The safety of the Land of Waves is tied directly to our own safety. After all, your port and coastline are very close to ours. We have been cooperating for the longest time to combat pirate threats, and we cannot stand still while our long-time neighbors starve to death."
Nagisa nodded enthusiastically, a frantic glimmer of hope breaking through his tired eyes. "That is exactly why, Lord Hokage, we did not even entertain any offer from any other village, no matter how generous they were."
As soon as the words left his mouth, his hands began to shake. He froze, fearing he might have deeply offended the Hokage by letting slip that other hidden villages had offered military aid.
"He rushed to correct his mistake, his words tumbling out fast. 'But to bring another hidden village so close to the Land of Fire would be a betrayal to a trusted ally. So, we did not even entertain them and came right away to humbly ask for the Hidden Leaf's assistance.'"
Fugaku tilted his head slightly, his tone dropping a fraction of a degree into something much colder. "May I ask which villages sent their offers?"
Nagisa shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He responded with a muted tone, as if afraid the very walls of the office would hear him. "The Hidden Cloud and the Hidden Stone, Lord Hokage."
Fugaku leaned back in his seat, a subtle, satisfied smile briefly touching his face as he thought internally. "Looks like Onoki actually made a move. How unusual of him."
He smoothed his expression before leaning forward again. "Well, Konoha will answer the call. We will send our forces to cull the violence and take care of those gangs. We will need your full cooperation, of course. We require your records, all the information you have gathered on these factions, and their financial trails."
He paused, letting the weight of his promise settle in the room. "But I assure you, we will stabilize the situation in no time. We will eradicate those gangs down to their roots so that this level of violence will not happen again anytime soon. Furthermore, we will keep a moderate-sized security force in the Land of Waves for some time to ensure peace remains. We will also help you build that long-thought-of bridge to the Land of Fire to ensure that our response time is much faster when aid is needed. We will even train soldiers of your choosing so that, in the future, your people can at least hold their own for most cases involving non-shinobi incidents."
Fugaku then smiled, sincerity showing on his face. "By refusing to bring another hidden village to our borders, you placed your absolute trust in us. We must repay that loyalty in full. We certainly cannot allow it to be said that Konoha is less generous than our rivals."
Overcome with sheer relief and gratitude towards the Hokage's generosity, Nagisa bowed again. "Lord Hokage, this is much more than what we could have ever imagined. Konoha sending their shinobi, who are acknowledged as the absolute best, to maintain our peace is a dream to the civilians of the Land of Waves. We will never forget this, but we will do our best to fairly compensate your forces for their indispensable work."
Fugaku waved his hand. "We will discuss this later after we get the full picture. For now, what is the greatest threat?"
Nagisa responded without hesitation. "The violence in our port city. The gang wars there need to stop as soon as possible so trade and exports are back on our shores. However, after that, the biggest target would be Gato. He controls the land through cruelty and bloodshed. He forces our people into poverty by stealing from them for useless protection, and then young, poor men have no choice but to join his ruthless organization, making him even stronger, and the cycle continues."
Nagisa sighed, despair and sadness clear in his voice. "We cannot do anything against someone like that. We are not strong enough."
Fugaku stood up and walked slowly next to him before patting his shoulder. With a gentle smile, he said with absolute conviction, "We will make your land safe again and then maintain the peace for long enough to train your police force. Trust me, I have enough experience there. It was my first job, you know."
Nagisa laughed at the Hokage's small joke as he asked, "How about the compensation for the mission?"
Fugaku called out, and an ANBU agent came in as he spoke. "Take Nagisa-san to our mission desk. They should calculate the expenses there, but do not charge him before you bring the final numbers to me. I will make sure to see what I can do if the price is too high."
Nagisa's anxiety about affording such a heavy military investment immediately vanished. He bowed one last time. "Thank you, Lord Hokage. We will await Konoha's aid."
Fugaku responded with a smile, "And you shall have it," before Nagisa was led out of the office by the ANBU.
Fugaku walked slowly towards the large windows, observing Konoha from above as he called, "Itachi."
His son appeared from the shadows, kneeling as his father kept his eyes on the village. "You have not had enough rest yet, however, it is time to head back to the Land of Grass. Onoki is making moves, and that means he is confident in his village's strength recovery. The Land of Grass operation is more important than ever now."
Itachi responded, "Yes, father. I will get back there right away."
Fugaku sighed. "Sorry, son, but our Jonin forces are stretched thin. After the Nine-Tails attack, we have so few of them left, so I have to rely heavily on you. For all intents and purposes, you are operating at that level now, and you are among the few I have available."
Itachi stood up and stepped closer to his father. "You should never apologize to me for that. It is my duty not only as a Leaf shinobi to do my absolute best for the village, but also as a son to the father who raised me to be this strong and reach that level."
Fugaku was touched by his son's sincerity. He turned with a genuine smile on his face and nodded, pleased with his son's declaration. "By the way, what is your impression of Sena now that you both have done a couple of missions together? You usually prefer working alone, so I was surprised that you asked for her as a teammate on subsequent missions after your first one together."
A tinge of redness touched Itachi's cheeks, something Fugaku noticed right away. An amused grin formed on the Hokage's lips, threatening to split his face in half and causing Itachi to almost grumble in protest. "It is not what you are thinking. She is just very good at her work, highly effective, and professional. She also understands my way of thinking perfectly and is extremely adaptable, which is rare for shinobi our age."
Fugaku's smile never faded as he said, "Sure. Never seen you this happy about working with your best friend Shisui, though."
The older man exploded in laughter as Itachi kept grumbling incoherently, before finally calming down. "Go summon Shisui for me. I have a mission for him."
Itachi responded, "Yes, father," and flickered out of the office.
Fugaku looked at the empty office and chuckled. "A Jonin-level fighter at eleven, and yet he has so much to learn about kunoichi and their ways."