At long last, Konohagakure's negotiations with the Lord Regent of the Land of Fire had finally concluded. After a lengthy inspection of the terms and conditions by Tobirama and Shikamaru, Sakura finally ratified the treaty, once again tying the Leaf's and the Fire's fates together with a deal that satisfied both parties.
In exchange for greater subventions plus a lump sum of cash for the peacekeeping work they had been performing free of charge since the former Daimyō's death, the Hidden Leaf Village would be shunted back to its original location, retaking its place as the country's armed forces and ultimate military deterrent.
The village would also give priority to the missions and bounties issued by the Gatō Trading Company and its affiliates, and in exchange, the village would be entitled to rebates when purchasing goods in bulk from the company. This was naturally meant to be a reward for the Honourable Lord Regent Tarutsu, for facilitating the talks between the young Daimyō and the Hidden Leaf…
…as if he hadn't expressly arranged himself to be in a position to negotiate with the Hidden Leaf, to give himself the maximum number of benefits he could suck out of the Land of Fire, the shameless, opportunistic bastard!
From an external point of view, this might very well have looked as though the young Daimyō and the Sixth Hokage had surrendered to the capitalists' faction, since the country and its taxpayers were effectively footing the bill to pay the Hidden Leaf to give unfair preferential treatment to a single company and its subsidiaries… and it could certainly be taken that way.
The truth was that Sakura had no choice but to deal with Lord Regent Gatō Tarutsu in order to avoid having the Hidden Leaf Village declared a rogue private military company operating beyond the law in the Land of Fire, which would have pretty much annihilated any chance of the village returning to the shinobi business… which was something her people wanted more than anything; a comfortable and peaceful life was overrated, apparently.
Even so, this deal with the devil was not without its merits.
By tying Gatō's interests to the Hidden Leaf's, Sakura could ensure that any chance of money-driven monkey business initiated by the company would be reduced to a minimum. Capitalists were motivated by money and money only, so by harming the Hidden Leaf Village with bad deals, they would only be shooting themselves in the foot.
Furthermore, by obtaining a seat at the table on the company's board of directors, the Leaf would also be able to temper its worst inclinations… like that nasty business involving the criminal exploitation of the Land of Waves six years ago, which Team 7 had swiftly put an end to.
Of course, Sakura had no intention of putting all her eggs in the same basket; she fully intended to reinvest the money Tarutsu had so graciously tossed at her feet into two promising ventures:
The first venture had its roots in the Land of Waves; with Sakura's support, their craftsmen had already started producing airship prototypes a year ago, with the intention of using them to muscle in on the Gatō-dominated trade business, perhaps as revenge for the misery Tarutsu's father had inflicted upon them.
The second venture was a homegrown one; a retired Konoha-nin named Kaminarimon had approached her with a terrific idea for an electric-powered machine that could run on rails, which was certain to revolutionise the shipping business and bring wealth to the country as a whole.
Both budding companies would obviously require protection from robbers and highwaymen, so this naturally meant more jobs for Hidden Leaf shinobi. It would take a while, but eventually, these investments would pay off.
To accelerate the modernisation process, Sakura had dispatched Team Guy to the Land of Snow, the Spring Country of Tomorrow; the official excuse was to obtain schematics for the snow-piercing train that they had built ages ago, but in actuality, she was hoping this industrial espionage would result in the uncovering of Kara, the secret society founded by Ōtsutsuki Isshiki.
Effectively, two birds with one stone.
"That was exhausting, but it'll all be worth it in the long run," Sakura muttered to herself, rubbing her aching temples as she plopped her plump posterior down onto her chair at her desk. "Ugh, I need something stiff to drink…"
Sakura opened the desk's lowermost drawer.
Within were a half-empty sake bottle and a pair of cracked cups, which had somehow survived Pain's assault on the village and the destruction of the Hokage Residence. Sakura could still picture the day Lady Tsunade had popped the bottle open, a day before they departed for the Gokage Summit… if it hadn't been for Shizune yanking it out of her mistress's hands, she would have drunk herself silly and acted all grumpy for the entire journey to the Land of Iron.
"It'sh fine, ishn't it?" Lady Tsunade had drunkenly said at the time. "Sakura-chan ish a big girl, she can have a drink with ush…"
"Sakura's only seventeen!" Shizune had then replied crossly. "Encouraging minors to drink… what kind of lousy teacher does that, Milady!?"
"Only a few months to my twentieth birthday," Sakura rationalised. "Besides, taking my past life into account, I should be more than old enough to drink."
Sakura poured herself a glass of two-year-old sake and tentatively took a sip…
"Bwegh… itburns!!"
…and promptly spat out the cloudy alcohol.
"That tasted like paint thinner mixed with vinegar!" Sakura choked out. She pulled a face, sticking out her little pink tongue in disgust. "How can anyone stand to drink this!?"
That little bottle had through quite a lot; after being unsealed, it had survived the chills of winters and the heatwaves of summers and even a fire.
"Only a masochist would like this," Sakura told herself, dumping the contents of her cup into a nearby potted plant. "…but maybe it'll taste better when I'm an adult."
Considering it had already gone bad, the sake certainly wouldn't get any better with age, but as Sakura wasn't an expert on alcohol, she decided to check back in a few months when she came of age, and so, she judiciously put the bottle back where she had found it.