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"How's the food, Ryoichi, is it to your liking? Mito asked as Ryoichi, Tsunade and she dinned with maids serving them.
"Ahh! Yes, Mito sensei, but the taste is different than usual. Have you changed your cook?" Ryoichi asked with his usual smile as a maid replaced his empty dishes with a dessert.
"Haha! So you have noticed. No, the cooks are the same. It's just this old lady decided to do some stretching and made today's dinner."
"Is that so? No wonder I find the food extra delightful tonight." Ryoichi complimented causing the smile on Mito's face to widen.
"And Tsunade also helped," Mito added making Ryoichi glance towards Tsunade silently eating her dessert.
"Mito sensei, you must be quite the cook if you made all this," Ryoichi paused pointing at the food. "Despite Tsunade's help."
"Hey!!!" Tsunade shouted but Mito shushed her with a look.
"Haha! She truly did help. I have been teaching Tsunade some important things as she is nearing marriage age. My own mother taught all these things when I was getting married off to Hashirama which includes cooking." Mito explained with a chuckle.
"Is that so?"
"Yes, despite her never needing most of those skills as there will be many servants to attend to them, it's better to learn them to please her future husband. I still remember how happy Hashirama became every time I cooked however rare those moments may have been." She said with a fond smile which surprised Ryoichi a bit. He has never seen such a smile on her face.
"Lord First was a lucky man."
"That he was. Speaking of marriage you are also nearing that age, have you thought about it?" Mito asked, subtly guiding the conversation to her original motive for this dinner.
It didn't escape Ryoichi, but he let her guide the conversation.
"I haven't given it many thoughts," Ryoichi answered with a shake of his head.
"So, you have given some," Mito asked, catching the underlying meaning of Ryoichi's words.
"I am thinking of marrying the merchant prince Hideki Haruto's sister as it will open their trading channels for our businesses, improving our profit by almost thirty percent. I'm also thinking of entering in Tea leaves business and the Hideki clan has a big unused land in the Land of Tea that I'm planning to ask as dowry"
"Aren't we allied with the Hideki clan already, why do you have to marry their princess to access their trading channels? And as for the land for Tea farming, we can buy it." Mito says as a frown marked her face. Tsunade also looked up with the same frown.
"That was the case till recently but after our business grew to affect their profit merchant King Isamu cut us off," Ryoichi explained and true enough that was the case. After Ryoichi saved the fat teen during the First Shinobi War, he became a fan of Ryoichi doing anything to please him.
With the fat teen now known as the merchant Prince Haruto gave full access to his clan's channels and connections Ryoichi quickly expanded the Senju clan's business like wildfire in a dry forest. But Haruto's father realised Ryoichi manipulating his son and cut Ryoichi off.
Ryoichi thought of just killing Isamu and helping Haruto ascend as the head of his clan. But as soon as that idea came into Ryoichi's head he removed them. Ryoichi knew killing Isamu didn't guarantee the immediate succession of Haruto. And even if it did, Haruto would need some time to gain the same level of control as his father. And that time is just a waste as Ryoichi is already planning to build his own channel for the Senju clan. He already did for Akihara village which is far bigger than Merchant King's.
Ryoichi didn't explain all this to Mito and let her think about the necessity and importance of marrying Haruto's sister.
"Wasn't this Haruto the same boy you saved in that suicidal mission?" Mito questioned
"Yes."
"I still think it was incredibly stupid of you to take that mission."
"Well I was a passionate young boy and Lord Second didn't leave me with many choices at that time," Ryoichi said shaking his head.
"And now you are not?" Mito asked with a deadpan ignoring the later part of the sentence.
"Well, I'm more experienced now." Mito snorted at those words knowing fully well how experienced and intelligent Ryoichi was even back then.
"Ignoring your stupidity, marrying the Hideki princess would go against your plan of increasing Senju's number. You won't be able to ploughed child in her weak civilian body as yo~" "ppfff" Mito got cut off by Tsunade's spit take.
"What? I am too old to mind my crass words." Mito said looking at her granddaughter wiping her lips.
"As I was saying a weak civilian body would not be able to birth children as fast as a kunoichi's body."
"That's right…" Ryoichi agreed with an amused smile. "But who said I even want children of my own?"
"You don't want them? Wouldn't that go against your own policy?" Mito questioned looking genuinely confused.
"That would but again I never made such a policy it's just our clan members are too eager to help our clan. I never forced anyone to make children and Tsunade being still unmarried is enough proof." Ryoichi replied.
"Speaking Tsunade being unmarried. Why don't you marry her? It would lessen one of my headaches." Mito said finally breaching the subject.
"Tsunade? I don't know… I like peace and quiet. And Tsunade is anything but peace and quiet."
"Well isn't that perfect? You like peace and quiet, she doesn't. You like to stay in control, she doesn't. You like to enjoy slow days, she doesn't. You like to expand your business and increase your wealth, she… well she doesn't She fills you in on the other aspects of life perfectly like yin to yang."
"…you are not wrong, sensei." Ryoichi nodded calmly though if not for his control his lips would have been twitching.
"And that's not the only thing. Marrying Tsunade would further legitimize your Patriarcship of Senju clans. Your children will face no problems as they will carry the Royal Senju blood of Hashirama. Don't forget you're only Senju patriarch because Tobirama said so." Mito finished and looked at Ryoichi with anticipating eyes.
Ryoichi didn't answer immediately instead he glanced at the blushing Tsunade. His thoughts travelled to his encounter with her future self and how she described their life together.
'Will this woman really be able to make such changes in my life?' This one thought echoed in Ryoichi's mind. He became very curious about just how would she ever do that. So just to satisfy his curiosity he agreed. Well, keeping the correct flow of time was also the reason.
He doesn't want to divert the timeline as he already achieved his goal in the original timeline so why disturb it?
"I'll marry her." With much consideration, Ryoichi agreed causing Mito's smile to widen and Taunade's blush to deepen.
"But not now, in a few years," Ryoichi spoke again.
"Of course, you can marry her whenever as long as you two get engaged by the end of the year." Mito agreed but not before placing her own condition to which Ryoichi agreed.
After that Ryoicji and Mito talked some more before Ryoichi bid goodbye to both women.
"What a day." Mito sighed as Ryoichi left. She turned her to silent Tsunade and questioned.
"What are you thinking, child?"
"Nothing Grandma, it's just…"
"Just?" Mito urged her to continue with a reassuring smile.
"It's just it's moving too fast. I am still not sure about this." Tsuande finally said causing Mito to sigh once more.
"Child it is the betterment of the Senju clan and you." She explained.
"I still don't get why marrying Ryoichi would help the clan. Wasn't he already the patriarch why would marrying him change anything?"
Mito looked at her confused granddaughter as she thought about how to properly explain to her.
"Tell me, child, do know know what Kagura's mind eye is?" Mito questioned to which Tsunade nodded.
"Then you should also know I possess it?" Tsunade nodded once more.
"Yeah, you should know that…" Mito continued. "But what you don't know is that my Kagura eye mutated after I became the Jinchuriki of nine tails. It gave me an empathetic ability making me able to guess the emotions of people close to me. And with this ability, I was able to know the indifference Ryoichi had for everything."
"What's there's to be surprised? Everyone knows he's a cold bastard." Tsunade scoffs.
"No, you don't get it, child. Even cold people like your granduncle have emotions but Ryoichi… Rhyoichi doesn't have them. If the Senju clan or the whole village gets destroyed today he won't feel a thing."
"Then why do want me to marry him?" Tsunade asked becoming even more confused.
"To protect you and little Nawaki."
"What do you mean."
"Like I said to him once he marries you no one would question his claim to Lordship of the Senju clan and the only way around that is by killing people who made the clan member question it. You and Nawaki."
"…" Tsunade was silent to that answer. She couldn't imagine Ryoichi would kill her. He may be an annoying cold bastard but he wasn't heartless. She still remembered how he hugged her till she stopped carrying day her mother died. That was the last day he was warm to her. It gives butterflies in her stomach every time she remembers that and it might also be the reason she isn't as repulsed as she should be at the idea of forcefully getting married.
Part of that was also her duty as the princess of the Senju clan. Her mother and grandmother were princesses of their people but they also got married off so she shouldn't be special.
"And." Mito continued which broke Tsuande out of her thoughts.
"As a wife of the previous patriarch of the Senju clan, it is my duty to see that our clan stays in the most capable hands and doesn't perish. Senju Ryoichi is the most capable and as long as he becomes a little attached to the clan, the clan would not perish in his life."
"And how would me marrying him would do that when he doesn't even have any emotions?" Tsunade questioned, getting a bit annoyed at her grandmother.
"He had them. Ryoichi was once a bright child with dreams and ambition but they all died with Ayame. Sometimes I wonder if he loathes our family as Ayame died protecting your mother. But clearly such is not the case as he would have many chances to exact revenge on us."
"Ok, suppose he has them how would I make him have feelings for him?"
"By giving him a child. A child can change a man beyond what you can imagine. I hope the fruit of your marriage rekindles his snubbed emotions."
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