When Komori Tadashi, the chief of Komori Village, was told that the Hatake had arrived and were waiting for him at the village entrance, he was confused at first. Why hadn't they just made their way directly to his house, as they always did, to negotiate?
Whatever reason he could think of didn't even come close to what he found when he went to meet them.
There was that Shū young man who always made the deliveries, and, of course, the cart filled with the anticipated crops. But then there was a group of men, none of them with the familiar Hatake hair, all of them bound together by robes, kneeling together on the ground in a little huddle.
And standing over them was a woman Tadashi had never seen before.
A Hatake woman, to be exact. Never in all of his years dealing with the Hatake had he seen any of their women. So it was very strange.
Shū saw Tadashi walking toward them and turned to call for the woman. "Kakashi-sama,"
The woman let out an annoyed huff but didn't turn to Shū. "How strange, it almost sounds like someone is calling for me… must be my imagination."
Shū gritted his teeth. "Kakashi-sensei."
Kakashi turned to him with a bright beam. "What is it, Shū-kun?"
Shū swallowed down the sigh that threatened to escape him and pointed to the old man walking toward them. "Komori Village's chief is here."
"I can see that."
Tadashi stopped right in front of the two of them. Not seeing Hatake Minoru anywhere, he naturally assumed that Shū was the one to talk to in this situation. "Hatake-san," he greeted, giving Shū a polite bow.
Shū's face paled. His wide eyes darted repeatedly toward the woman standing to the side, as if he was trying to send Tadashi a message.
This stupid old man! He is so dead if Kakashi-sama takes offense to this. He gets that it is not normal to greet a woman you don't know first, but really, this is the worst time to follow tradition!
Realizing that the old man wasn't going to get the hint, Shū hurried to introduce the currently amused Kakashi to him. "Komori-san, this is Hatake Kakashi-sama. She is…"
God, how was he supposed to introduce her? He hadn't thought this far ahead!
"... the sensei of our current clan head."
"Huh? She is Hatake Minoru-sama's teacher?"
She seemed a little young for that to be true, but Tadashi never really understood those shinobi's ways.
Shū panicked as amusement dropped from Kakashi's face, but she spoke up before he could clarify. The source of this chapter is g.com.
"Maa, that was a terrible joke, Komori-san," Kakashi droned. "As if I would ever accept someone that annoying as my student."
She rubbed her ear. "His voice was so grating that I had to kill him to get some peace and quiet."
Shū covered his face with one hand. This woman was stressing him out too much! Did she have to say it like that?!
Tadashi swallowed hard. He suddenly understood what the looks young Shū was giving him meant.
He knew the title of Hatake clan head always went to the strongest among them.
To Tadashi, a normal man from a simple background, Minoru had seemed like a god. So for this woman to have killed Minoru, she must be stronger than Minoru.
And to kill him and then turn around and give the seat of leadership to her student instead…
"It's an honor to meet you, Hatake-sama." He bowed deeper than he had to Shū. "I'm Komori Tadashi, the chief of the Komori. If you don't mind me asking, where is the rest of your group?"
"Oh, it's just the two of us. I didn't see the need for a large group for a simple delivery like this one."
What could Tadashi even say to that?!
"And, erm, Hatake-sama, who exactly are these men?"
"They are bandits." Kakashi lazily pointed toward Gaku. "I heard that one in particular had a bounty on his head, and since we came across them, I thought I might as well catch him."
Might as well?!
One of the prisoners suddenly raised his head. "Please, just take us away from her already! I can't take it anymore." The woman casually kicked the dirt beside his knee. He immediately closed his mouth.
"Don't mind the noise they are making. They are just rude like that." She dismissed them casually.
Tadashi's eyes widened when he realized exactly who these bandits were.
The infamous Red-Nose Gaku bandits, who had terrorized merchants for years and even dared to mess with the Fire Daimyō's men, were currently sitting on the ground, looking like scolded children.
Yet here was a woman standing beside a cart as if nothing unusual had happened, while a group of wanted bandits sat tied together like livestock. To say that Tadashi was sweating would be an understatement. Find the original chapter at novelping dot com.
He had heard stories about the Hatake clan. They had some capable fighters, but they were hardly a clan known for producing monsters.
Tadashi decided he didn't want to know the details. "I assume you want me to contact the bounty broker for you…"
Kakashi gave a pleased hum. "Yes, that would be very generous of you."
Tadashi quickly waved to some of the men loitering around, watching the spectacle, telling them to take these men and lock them away.
To their displeasure, none of the bandits resisted. If anything, they looked about to throw themselves in prison just to get away from the Hatake.
Kakashi turned back toward Tadashi.
"Now, about the crops."
"Ah, yes, this way, please, Hatake-sama."
He led them back toward his house, Shū leading the ox cat behind him.
Tadashi's house was not particularly impressive.
It was larger than most of the homes surrounding it, but that was to be expected for the chief of a village. It was much smaller than the Hatake's main house.
Kakashi waved at Shū to stay behind by the cart. The young man nodded, but the second Kakashi turned away, he held his hand out in prayer. He hoped to god she didn't end up killing everyone inside that room.
Tadashi led her to a room where two men were already waiting. More than a few raised their eyebrows when they caught sight of a woman joining the negotiation.
The sharp glare Tadashi sent them shut their mouths.
"Before we begin, Hatake-sama, allow me to introduce them. These are Komori Gen and Komori Riku, who handle most of our trade." Hearing the way Tadashi was speaking to her with such respect, the two men hurried to bow.
Kakashi waved off the bow. "Maa, no need to be so stiff. We're just here to sell you some vegetables. That said, why don't we start the negotiation?"
They didn't see it behind her mask, but Kakashi was smiling with her teeth. After a decade of overseeing Konoha's trade, there was no way she was stepping out of this room without a single coin less than what the crops were actually worth.