"Would this be a good time for me to ask everyone's advice?" Keiko asked carefully. "Jiraiya, I feel certain that today, like every day as Hokage, has been stressful for you. I do not wish to—"

Jiraiya smiled and raised a hand to cut her off. "Yes, it's been stressful, but it's fine. It's actually been one of the better days recently. How can I help?" He poured himself a fresh cup of tea and rolled the warm cup between his palms as he looked at her expectantly.

Keiko paused, seeming to examine every word before letting it out. "I have received a demand from the Pangolin. They want more of our skytower seals and have stated that if I do not supply them they will renegotiate the details of my contract."

Jiraiya choked on the sip of tea he'd just taken, then set his cup down with a sharp clank. "They said what?" She opened her mouth to respond but he waved her to silence. "Yeah, I heard. That does not fly. They have no business talking to their Summoner that way."

"Darn straight!" Kagome-sensei said. "I've been saying all along that you're too good for them! Bunch of schnooks, all of them. Gouging us on deals, treating Keiko like dirt—" He cut himself off when Mari-sensei placed a gentle hand on his arm. He glowered at her, then dug resentfully into his rice.

Keiko shifted uncomfortably. "Are you sure? I...don't really have very much to offer them. Without their power I'm just another genin."

Jiraiya studied her for a moment the way one might study a surprisingly interesting logic puzzle. Then he turned to his wife. "Mari?"

The redhead shrugged. "Don't look at me. I've spent a year and a half trying to get her to accept how impressive she is. At this point I'm pretty sure she's disregarding what I say by pure reflex."

"Mari-sensei!"

The jōnin rolled her eyes. "Seriously, Keiko, you are. I've told you any number of times that you are enormously more talented than the average genin and that your intelligence—not your bloodline, your actual intelligence—is almost frightening. You have a very calm and stable personality and you do a good job of evaluating and analyzing everything except yourself. Your primary issue is your self image; you have an enormous case of imposter syndrome which you reinforce through some truly S-rank confirmation bias. When this issue is pointed out, your motivated cognition prevents you from evaluating the issue rationally."

The entire table stared at Mari-sensei.

The woman in question looked back, shrugged, and took a delicate sip of her tea. "What?" she asked. "Neira and I have been having lunch a lot."

Pause.

"Ah," Jiraiya said faintly. "I see no way in which this could make my life more difficult."

Mari-sensei patted his arm reassuringly. "You'll be fine, dear. You're one of the Legendary Three, Master of Leaf, Lord of the Bedroom Arts, author of—"

"Yes, thank you," the Sannin said grumpily. "I know who and what I am. Right now what I am is annoyed about some pangolins mistreating my daughter. Keiko, I have to believe that this is one or two mid-level bureaucrats throwing their weight around. I mean, maybe the Pangolin Clan is just way more snotty than the Toads led me to believe, but I'd like to think that's not it. Have you spoken to anyone other than Pandā about this?"

"Not yet. I chose instead to bring the issue before the clan and seek advice."

"I see." He paused, looking at the ceiling and tapping his chin thoughtfully. "Okay, we should get this dealt with right away. There's been so much going on lately that I've been letting the Pangolins sit on the back burner, but that needs to change."

Hazō shifted uncomfortably. "Keiko, it sounds like this will be a hostile negotiation. That isn't your strength; you're amazing at bargaining with people who are operating in good faith but I've noticed that liars and manipulators throw you off your stride. What can we do to support you?"

Keiko nodded acknowledgement of his point. "Indeed. This is part of why I brought it to the clan. I would appreciate it if all of you would help me produce a concept map that I can work from during the negotiations."

Jiraiya frowned. "A concept map?"

"Sort of like a flowchart, sir," Hazō said. "You start with a single item—in this case, maybe 'value of one seal'—and you work out from there, adding related items and connecting them with lines. Each item can have a snippet of dialogue attached, either something you plan to say or something you think the person you're speaking with might say in response to you. It forms a multi-path script."

Jiraiya's eyebrows rose. "Interesting idea." He pursed his lips, thinking it through. "Yes, we can do that." He shook his head. "Keiko, I wish I could be there to back you up on this in person, but I don't have a contract with any Toad in Pangolin territory and I can't spend days getting from Toad lands to Pangolin lands."

Hazō started to say 'why can't we have the pangolin come here?' and then caught himself. Neither Keiko nor Jiraiya had proposed the idea, so there was probably a good reason. What was it?

Oh, right. Any pangolin senior enough to conduct these negotiations would either be too powerful for Keiko to summon or would insist on having the conversation on the Summon Path in order to get the home field advantage.

"May I offer a thought?" he asked carefully. After the reaming he had gotten about the Merchant Council he wasn't eager to jump in again without testing the waters.

"Shoot," Jiraiya said. He picked up his chopsticks and flicked a few bits of stir fry onto his plate.

"It seems to me that there's two pieces to the issue," Hazō said. "The first is 'why are they being so pushy about it?', the second is 'what we can get for the skytowers?'"

Jiraiya nodded and made a 'go on' gesture, since his mouthful of chicken and vegetables keeping him from saying it verbally.

"Well," Hazō said. "I'm not sure about the first part, but it's clear that they consider the skytowers really valuable. So far the Pangolins have been a little stingy—I'm sorry, Keiko, but they have. You're their Summoner, the first that they've had in centuries. They should have been throwing power at you."

Jiraiya swallowed and shook his head. "I agree with you in principle, but I see where they're coming from. You have to understand the way things work between the Paths; most clans don't have a contract but they still manage to hold territory and maintain a good standard of living. Having a Summoner is valuable but not overwhelmingly so. Add in the fact that every clan I've ever interacted with is militaristic to some degree and at least somewhat xenophobic by human standards. We look and smell weird to them, so it's not surprising that they're a little standoffish. In Keiko's case they've probably been worried that she wasn't strong enough to hold onto any secrets they disclosed to her so they've been holding back a little."

"That's stupid," Noburi burst out. "If they're worried that Keiko isn't strong enough then the solution is to strengthen her. They've got an entire military full of trainers and soldiers and we've already seen that even their simplest training jutsu is really powerful by ninja standards."

Jiraiya shrugged helplessly. "Alien minds are alien?" he said. "I agree with you that it's the wrong approach for them to take, but it is what it is. Anyway, now that you guys are in the clan of the Toad Summoner they'll probably be a little more relaxed and open to negotiations."

"Stinking idiots," Kagome-sensei muttered, stabbing angrily at his red bean bun. "Shouldn't be endangering Keiko."

"Right there with you," Jiraiya said. "I'll ask the Toads to apply some political pressure. 'Your Summoner is now allied with our Summoner and her power will increase his' or something. That's going to take a while, though. Communication lag between Toads and Pangolins is wicked. I don't think we want to wait, though; the Exams are coming up and we'll want to put this issue to bed quickly. Plus, we can use the opportunity to get you some good stuff that you can take to Mist."

"I have some thoughts on that," Hazō said tentatively. When he got Keiko's nod of permission he leaned forward, arms on the table and his smile positively rapacious. "Sounds to me like the skytowers were a significant part of what allowed the Pangolins to conquer the Condors, and the seals have probably mostly expired by now. The Pangolins are probably really motivated to get more. If so...."

o-o-o-o​

"You want me to tell Commissar Panteon what?" Pandā asked, aghast.

"Tell him that I will provide nothing until he apologizes to me in person," she said, forcing herself to live inside the memory of the Sarubetsu alley and the rage that had allowed her to speak with steel. She desperately wanted to hide within the ice of the Mori Voice, but here on the Seventh Path that wasn't an option. "His words were inappropriate and unprofessional; I will not tolerate them. I will be discussing his rudeness, as well as negotiating for skytower sales, with the Polemarch. He may find me there."

Pandā's eyes were wide and his tongue flickered in and out spasmodically. "Keiko...I...I can't...please don't make me do that. You don't talk to Commissars like that. You really don't."

She eyed him thoughtfully. "Very well," she said. "I will ask the Polemarch to send someone else as a messenger. Let's go." She turned toward the Polemarch's headquarters and set off at the fastest walk she could manage without stumbling or looking ridiculous. The sooner this was over the sooner she could collapse in a panicked heap.

Pandā fell in beside her, his much shorter legs forcing him to run to keep up. "Keiko, are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Yes." No. Definitely no. Still, Mari-sensei and Jiraiya had both agreed that it was the best option and had carefully coached her. Better yet, she had the most detailed concept map she'd ever seen tucked safely away in her memory. Maybe it wouldn't be a complete disaster.

"But—"

"Pandā, please do not distract me. My mind is made up."

"...Yes, Keiko."

o-o-o-o​

The Polemarch's fortress was simultaneously much farther than she liked and far closer than she would have preferred. She was passed through the guards with little trouble and only had to wait twenty minutes for the Polemarch to make time in his schedule. When the herald came to summon her she took a deep breath and nodded firmly.

"Let's do this," she said. She forced herself to stride into Pantsā's throne room with her head high. (This too had been part of her rehearsal with Mari-sensei and Jiraiya.) She took her place before the enormous pangolin and interlaced her fingers in the peace sign. She spared a passing thought to wonder if she was, on balance, happy that Pandā had stayed outside (since this way he probably wouldn't catch any fallout of an angry Polemarch), or regretful (because of the absence of moral support).

"Greetings, Summoner," came the enormous voice of the Pangolin clan's monarch. "What brings you before me today?"

"Three things, Polemarch," she said. The use of his title was one of Jiraiya's subtleties, intended to demonstrate emotional distance and formality instead of using his personal name as he had instructed her to. "First, I gather that the Clan wishes to purchase more of the seals for the Pantokrator's Judging Eyes. I am here to set up negotiations for that. Second, I have some important news about the Human Path that you should have. Third, I am here to, demand an apology from Commissar Panteon for the inappropriate and unprofessional manner in which he conveyed the desire for negotiations." She almost managed to make it through the whole memorized speech without stumbling, but her voice still hitched a little before 'demand'. Hopefully Pantsā hadn't noticed. Now, according to the concept map the team had created, there were seven different categories of response he might make....

"I see."

Category Four: calm, measured, not showing anger with her or with Panteon. That wasn't the ideal branch but it was far from the worst.

"What exactly did the Commissar say?" The pangolin's voice was purely in her mind, yet she imagined she could feel the subterranean rumble resonating inside her chest.

"He stated that I would be 'richly rewarded' for obeying his demand and that the terms of my contract would be renegotiated if I refused, with the implication that 'renegotiated' actually meant 'revoked'." Stay calm, Kei. Keep it together; you can do this. "My clan and I are, in principle, willing to provide the seals, but I am not willing to be either threatened or condescended to with promises of treats." Oh Sage, she was losing it. She could feel her breathing trying to accelerate and her hands starting to tremble. She took up a human position of attention, standing straight with her hands behind her back; it was not the Pangolin posture of deference but she needed the familiarity and comfort of her own cultural traditions.

"Hmmmm."

She waited, counting her breaths and forcing herself to visualize the alley in Sarubetsu. My team killed every chakra beast from Fire's Swamp of Death to the jungles of Tea. We've crushed jōnin, fought an entire village of ninja, and faced down Jiraiya of the Sannin. I stood my ground in front of Pantsā of the Adamant Scales, the Boss Summon of the Pangolin Clan, and made him fear me. You think we're going to back down for some pissant village nin like you? Talk to us like reasonable people and we could be powerful allies, but do not imagine for even a moment that you can take our control from us. Try it and we'll blow your little mudhole into rubble and pick our teeth with the fragments.

"The Commissar's words were inappropriate," Pantsā rumbled. "He will be disciplined and I will explain at some length to the Office of Morale what appropriate manners are when dealing with humans."

Keiko blinked. Pantsā had just skipped over twelve nodes in the concept map; was he allowed to do that? There was a plan! They had had a plan, and he was ruining it!

Ignorant of her inner turmoil, the Boss Summon continued. "Now, I believe you wanted to negotiate for the Pantokrator's Eyes? I will ensure that a more reasonable Pangolin is assigned for the discussion."

Kei swallowed. The vision of Sarubetsu that she held before her mind's eye wavered and became colorless. She had protested this next part of the map in the strongest terms, but both Mari-sensei and Jiraiya had been adamant. (As Adamant as Pantsā's scales, an insane part of her mind giggled.)

"I do apologize," she said with a calm she absolutely did not feel. She could not bring herself to offer the regretful smile that Jiraiya had suggested. (A suggestion at which Mari-sensei had laughed and patted his arm comfortingly, which had in turn made Jiraiya grumble.) "I'm afraid I won't be able to give the proper attention to the negotiations for at least two weeks. That was the news I wanted to convey: I am no longer a clanless missing-nin. Jiraiya, the Toad Summoner, has formed a new clan and adopted me and all my teammates. I am now Gōketsu Keiko; my team and I are accepted as honored members of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, the most powerful ninja village on the Human Path. Jiraiya is currently the Hokage of Leaf—that is, the military leader of the village.

"For reasons both personal and political my team and I will be competing in the Chūnin Exams, an internationally important event that begins in just over a week. Our performance in the Exams will have a significant impact on the future of the Gōketsu clan in particular and on Leaf in general. I apologize, but my clan leader and military commander is requiring me to do nothing but train until the Exams. I had to request a special dispensation to be allowed to come today so that I could inform you of our willingness to trade once time is available."

"Fascinating," the massive voice murmured in her brain. The nuances of pangolin speech were often difficult to interpret, but she had the feeling that laughter lurked behind the word. "Among the Pangolin Clan, messengers and soldiers are often given a certain amount of latitude in their orders when opportunities are presented that those orders could not have anticipated. Supposing I were willing to conduct the negotiations myself, right now? I can clear an hour from my schedule and I'm sure that your clan would benefit from whatever deal we make. It could potentially impact these Exams of yours."

She suppressed the majority of a shudder that mixed terror and relief in almost equal proportions. This had been what they'd been angling for, but she hadn't dared hope that it would happen. She forced herself to pause for the space of two carefully-measured breaths.

"I...suppose my Clan Head would approve that action," she said doubtfully. "Would you be willing to do that?"

"Indeed. A moment, please." Something brushed against the edges of her mind as Pantsā thought-sent a command to what she assumed would be his private secretary outside the room. She knew with bone-deep certainty that allowing her to sense the existence of the message had been purely a courtesy on his part. "There, I've cleared an hour from my schedule. Now, what did you have in mind?"

Keep it together, Kei, keep it together. "I should start off by saying"—she swallowed reflexively, her mouth having gone dry as the deserts of Wind Country—"...by saying that I am not willing to deliver any seals until I have received a personal apology from Commissar Panteon." Her heart was pounding so hard she was sure the massive pangolin could hear it.

There was a pause so filled with terror that she nearly wet herself, and then Pantsā's quietly tectonic laughter echoed in her mind. "You are pushing dangerously close to rudeness of your own, Summoner, but I admire your steel. Panteon is a skilled administrator, a dedicated commissar, and a significant figure in our hierarchy. He is also a pangolin who does not just hold grudges, he treasures them like beloved children. Forcing him to make a personal apology will destroy your relationship with him in future. Are you willing to do that?"

Kei's hands were shaking harder; she squeezed them together to hold them still. The first stirrings of anger at her own weakness were beginning to rise within her heart; she fanned the flames, forcing herself to dwell on how much the rest of the team—the clan!—were counting on her. Her success or failure in these negotiations could literally mean life and death for them. Was she really going to let herself fail now? No! She was Mo—Gōketsu, and she was in control!

"I see," she said, the fires of the anger freezing into ice in her voice. "On the Human Path we place great importance on ninja being able to separate their personal feelings from their professional responsibilities, but I suppose this is one more difference between Pangolin and human culture. Very well, if the Commissar is unable to manage his emotions then I suppose I won't push the issue."

"Very mature of you," the Polemarch said, tiny hints of laughter dancing behind the polite words. "Now, I believe we were going to discuss trade?"

"Yes," Kei said. This part was easier; she had spent months practicing her bargaining skills with Mari-sensei, she had drilled in the specifics of this particular deal for hours, she had a concept map dedicated specifically to the issue, and she had a good, albeit basic, grasp on the Pangolin economy from prior shopping trips with Pandā. She was as prepared for this as she had ever been for anything, and it sounded like Pantsā was actually positively oriented towards the bargain.

"After discussion with my clan leader, we feel that the best option is to create a recurring trade in which we will supply the Pangolin Clan with ten of the Pantokrator's Eyes per month in exchange for appropriate recompense."

"Ten? I'm afraid that won't do," Pantsā said. "We'll need at least two hundred per month."

Kei hesitated. They had deliberately lowballed the initial offer, but she hadn't expected his initial raise to be quite that high. None of the available responses on her concept map were a good fit for that big a jump, so she chose to ignore it for now and stick with the path that she'd been on.

"If you'll allow, I'd like to discuss the number of seals in a moment," she said politely. "First I want to lay out the details of what we're looking for. Our payment will need to be split between monetary and military elements. Gōketsu is a new clan, and small—only six members. We have ongoing expenses that my team did not have when we were simply missing-nin. We will require an amount of gold equal to twice my weight each month; it should be easy enough to find among the territories that the Pangolin Clan has been able to conquer with the aid of the Pantokrator's Eyes. Furthermore, I wish to protect my clan mates and, to that end, I will need all of them to be taught the Pangolin basic training jutsu that you use to enhance strength and speed as well as toughen the scales of new recruits. Each member of Clan Gōketsu will be taught five jutsu of our selection—of course, we will need to see a complete list of the Pangolin Clan's jutsu in order to know what the options are—and I will be granted contracts with ten military agents. I will provide a list of what specialties I need. The military ranks of these agents aren't relevant but they should be among the most skilled and motivated available. I'm sure that Panteon felt very clever for foisting Panjandrum off on me but the next group will need to be higher quality." Her tone was breathless at the end and she realized she'd forgotten to breathe through the entire speech. Jiraiya had been very specific about both the wording and intonation of that initial offer and Mari-sensei had backed him up. Of course, they weren't the ones that needed to be so demanding towards a living war machine the size of a small mountain.

"Panjandrum...Panjandrum...ah, yes," Pantsā said with a chuckle. "I remember him. Tremendous talent, no discipline, far too much ego. All things considered he wasn't the worst option you could have received, Summoner. Say what you will about him but he is an excellent combatant when he stirs himself and he learns new skills very quickly if appropriately motivated."

Kei blinked. As far as she understood it, Panjandrum was a cook, and not a particularly high-ranked one at that. Not a position that would typically attract the attention of the Polemarch. Did Pantsā really know every pangolin under his command?

"Undoubtedly true, Polemarch," she said with a bow. "Still. I politely request that future contracts be of a less difficult nature."

"Not unreasonable," Pantsā rumbled. "As I recall, you have a contract with Senior Combat Instructor Pankurashun, do you not?"

"Yes?"

"Excellent. I will withdraw him from the training hall and assign him as your personal lochagos. He can be responsible for your training as well as command of your other contractees. You may work with him to find up to two other contracts. They will be chosen from the elite, but High Command will need to decide if they can be spared from their current duties. There are enough skilled pangolin that you should have no difficulty finding two who meet your needs and are available immediately."

"With respect, Polemarch, I feel that eight new contracts would be more appropriate."

"I'm afraid we simply cannot spare more than three of our elite soldiers, in addition to one of our most-decorated Senior Combat Instructors," Pantsā said regretfully. "Not even in exchange for two hundred of the Pantokrator's Eyes per month."

"That is a pity," Kei said, with what she felt sure was equally fake regret. "I certainly wouldn't want to endanger the Pangolin Clan if your enemies have truly stretched you so thin that you can't spare seven of your soldiers."

"Hm...well, I suppose that since we have crushed the Condors we do have more re-deployable troops then we did a few months ago. I suppose I could assign you a full tessera of four warriors."

"Five is a propitious number among humans," Kei said. "Given how stretched you are I suppose I could settle for that, plus Pankurashun, in exchange for twenty Eyes per month."

Pantsā paused, cocking him immense head in thought. "One Pangolin for each member of Clan Gōketsu," he mused. "I admire the symmetry. Very well, Pankurashun as your lochagos and an over-strength tessera in exchange for one hundred and eighty of the Eyes per month. Your selections must still be approved by High Command, though; we need to be sure not to disrupt vital operations by removing key people at the wrong time. Now, as to your other demands, I'm afraid they are simply out of the question. Even righteous wars are expensive, and we cannot divert the amount of money you are discussing from more critical needs. Nor could I assign any of our jutsu teachers to spend the time necessary to adapt thirty separate jutsu to human needs. And, of course, there is no central compilation of jutsu, so it is not in my power to grant that demand even if I were willing to violate operational security so badly."

"I see," Kei said. It was probably true that there was no complete compilation; certainly Leaf didn't have one. There was undoubtedly an incomplete list somewhere, though. "Well, if the Pangolin Clan cannot afford to spare a few coins to give Gōketsu financial security then I suppose we'll have to look elsewhere for ongoing revenue streams. I'm afraid that our sealcrafting skills are our most valuable resource, so it's unlikely we'll have crafting time sufficient to supply the Pangolins as well as whichever Human Path customers we settle on. I do apologize for wasting your time."

"A pity," Pantsā said. "May I suggest that you speak to your clan head on the subject of fiscal responsibility? I have no idea how he could possibly be wasting that much money every month."

Kei was surprised to notice that she was smiling very slightly. Bizarre as the thought seemed, she was actually enjoying this. It felt more like a dance than a contest; Pantsā must know that a new clan would be desperate for resources and that he could drive a harder bargain if he so chose, but he showed no indications of wanting to turn the screws.

"It's true," she said, shaking her head. "Our clan leader is quite responsible but I'm afraid some of my...siblings...are a bit wasteful. I suppose if I work with Jiraiya to get them under control then we could get by on only one and a half times my weight in gold per month."

Pantsā made a noise that was probably the Pangolin equivalent of a disapproving click of the teeth. "So much? Truly, humans are wastrels. If there's only six of you I would expect that you could get by quite comfortably on an ounce of topaz each month."

"Prices in Leaf are quite high by Pangolin standards, I'm afraid," Keiko said. "Especially land. And gemstones are more plentiful on the Human Path, making them much less valuable. That's why we prefer to negotiate in gold. It would take half again as much as I weigh in gold every month to pay our expenses."

"My, that is expensive. Perhaps you should move into less ostenatious lodgings? I know it's common for pangolins who have just come into significant combat bonuses to waste it on fripperies, but it sounds like your clan has no self-control whatsoever. From what Pandā has told me about the Human Path I would expect that two or three pounds of gold per month would be adequate to let you live in luxury."

Kei laughed because that was what the concept map mandated at this stage in the negotiation. She was certain that it was the worst fake laugh ever fake-laughed in the history of fake laughter.

"With all due respect, Polemarch, I think your secretary may have mistranslated the units in Pandā's report. It would be at least one hundred pounds per month to support us in even modest comfort. That doesn't account for the extra expenses that Jiraiya has as Hokage—military equipment for his personal guard, among other things. That accounts for another twenty pounds." Pantsā wanted to make inordinate raises, hm? Turnabout was fair play. She forced herself not to think about the frankly ridiculous amounts of wealth she was throwing around so casually.

"Hmmmmmm...well, we did find a rich new vein of gold in the mountains near one of the Condor outposts," Pantsā mused. "Since you're going to be supplying us with a hundred and fifty of the Pantokrator's Eyes per month I could divert twenty pounds of gold from the military construction budget, along with the five pangolin warriors, the training jutsu, and the one other jutsu that we had discussed."

Kei bowed deeply. "I do apologize, Polemarch. I must have misspoken at the beginning of the conversation—we can only supply twenty Eyes per month without impacting our other duties." She paused, brow furrowed in thought. Pantsā probably wouldn't understand the expression but Mari-sensei always said that maintaining a cover was a matter of details. "Still, I suppose if we were financially secure then we could outsource some of our work, which would free up time for seal crafting. Also, you have shown generosity in your willingness to supply me with Pankurashun and his five warriors, plus the training jutsu and five other jutsu of our selection for each member of my clan. I suppose that I could convince Jiraiya to hire out enough of our tasks that we would have time to supply thirty Eyes per month in exchange for one hundred pounds of gold."

"I think there must have been some confusion, Summoner," Pantsā said, his mental voice puzzled. "I understood that the upfront price would be the five soldiers, Pankurashun permanently assigned to you, and the basic training jutsu for each member of your clan. I'm prepared to offer thirty pounds of gold on a monthly basis in exchange for one hundred and fifty of the Eyes."

"That's very kind of you, sir," Kei said, bowing again. "Unfortunately, it's simply not feasible. Jiraiya would punish me harshly if I bound up so much of the clan's seal-making time while leaving us in such penury. I do apologize for wasting your time. I'll let you get back to your duties."

Pankurashun chuckled. "Now, now, don't be hasty," he said. "There's always a way for reasonable people to make things work. You said that your clan leader was Polemarch of his village? Then I'm sure he has sufficient financial acumen to live comfortably on fifty pounds of gold per month while finding the time to produce a mere hundred and twenty Eyes."

"Well...." Kei said doubtfully. "I think that perhaps he wouldn't beat me too much if I managed to bring in eighty pounds of gold each month. The rest of the clan would be furious with me for making them take time out to create sixty Pantokrator's Eyes per month, but if I arranged for each of them to learn the training jutsu and four others then they would probably forgive me eventually."

"Sixty pounds might be possible," Pantsā said, "in exchange for one hundred of the Pantokrator's Judging Eyes each month. As to the rest of it, Pankurashun can teach your clan the basic training jutsu, but I'm afraid that the time of our jutsu trainers is in heavy demand right now as we prepare for the push against the Hyenas. I suppose I could require one of them to make time to teach your clan three jutsu total."

"Each Eye is a set of five seals," Kei pointed out. "They take a very long time to craft and it's not safe to hurry. We might be able to make seventy-five Eyes per month, but the clan would probably refuse unless they were each getting at least three jutsu in addition to the basic training one."

"Assuming I were willing to make such a lopsided deal, when could you deliver this month's shipment of ninety Eyes?"

Kei thought about that. The Five Seal Barrier was a useful enough seal that the team had a fair number of them already prepared, but was it a good idea to cut too sharply into their supply? "I would need to talk with my clan leader, but I would expect that we could have the first batch within three days. Um, a day is—"

"Twenty-four hours, yes," Pantsā said. "I do read the reports, Summoner." He paused to think for several of the longest seconds of Kei's life.

"I'll tell you what," the enormous pangolin said at last. "Five jutsu for your clan; you may divide them among yourself as you see fit. This is a significant gift, Summoner; the Pangolin Clan is not fond of letting our military secrets out of our control, since they could easily be stolen by someone on the Human Path and then make their way back to the Summoner of an enemy clan." He raised a massive claw in admonishment. "I'm trusting you a great deal here. Our jutsu are to be secrets of the Gōketsu Clan. They will not be shared outside your clan, studied, or modified."

"So," Keiko said carefully, "the upfront payment will be three pounds of diamonds, the full-time availability of Pankurashun and five elite pangolin of my choice, plus the training jutsu for each member of Gōketsu and five other jutsu of our choice. After that, we agree to a monthly payment of sixty pounds of gold in exchange for ninety of the Pantokrator's Judging Eyes." She paused, considering, then nodded. "My clan leader will probably be angry with me for doing such a poor job of bargaining but I suspect he'll accept the deal rather than shaming me by forcing me to go back on my word with such an important ally as the Pangolin Clan."

Pantsā snorted but took no other notice of her addition to the upfront cost. "I shall ensure that the diamonds are all of good quality," he said magnanimously. "You, however, will acknowledge the terms of our jutsu training, since it seems to have been left out of your statement of the bargain." He paused, then leaned in slightly. "You will ensure that our jutsu are kept secret, Summoner. Nor will you attempt to study or modify them." His tone had shifted from the nearly playful one he'd had while bargaining, a note of warning hanging just barely out of sight behind the words. A shiver ran down Kei's spine on icy feet.

"Yes, Pantsā," she said, trying and failing to keep her voice from squeaking at the implied threat. "I will. We will. Keep the Pangolin jutsu secret, that is. And not study or modify them."

"Excellent," the lord of the Pangolin Clan said, a smile back in his voice. "Then I believe we have a bargain. Someone is on the way with the diamonds right now. We will expect delivery of ninety Pantokrator's Judging Eyes within three days, with ninety more to follow every thirty days thereafter. A pleasure doing business with you, Summoner." He gave her a nod that was both polite and also very clearly a dismissal.

"Thank you, Polemarch," Kei said, bowing convulsively before turning and scurr—hurrying out the door. Definitely hurrying. Yes.

o-o-o-o​

The entire clan stared goggle-eyed into Kei's basket of diamonds.

"Say it again," Jiraiya ordered.

Nervously, Kei repeated the terms of the bargain she had negotiated. "Is that too many seals? I know the Five Seal Barriers take time but I thought—"

Jiraiya forced himself to straighten up, blinking away his shock even as he waved her words aside. "No, it's fine. Hazō and Kagome can produce those in a couple of days, no problem—"

"Nice of us," Kagome grumbled under his breath. "Doing all the work. Greatest sealmaster in the world, can't be bothered to actually make any seals. We should—"

Jiraiya rolled his eyes. "I'll pitch in when I can, Kagome, but I'm just a little busy these days." He looked in the basket of diamonds again and shook his head. "In the meantime, you just solved all our financial problems, Keiko. Pantsā was generous; those are all high-quality diamonds. We can pay off the compound with what's in there, plus get some of the repairs done—"

"Plus have a decent wedding," Mari-sensei said archly.

"Don't distract me, woman. Yes, fine, wedding. Whatever. Point is, that's enough money to keep us afloat and relatively comfortable until some of the things that I have in the works come through. More importantly, the diamonds are a signal; Pantsā could easily have given us lower quality stones, but he didn't. He intends to play fair on the deal and is actually going a little out of his way to make it good for us. You'll have serious combat power, plus you should be able to find specialists who can plug holes in the team's skillsets. From what you told me about Akane, that conditioning jutsu is badass. I won't object at all to having it myself, and it will be a major edge for you kids. If the other jutsu he can give us are of even somewhat similar quality then this is going to be a real boost for the clan." He shook his head in disbelief. "I didn't expect you to get anything remotely this good. Great job, kid."

Keiko burst into fiery blushes.

Hazō considered what he might say to give her a merciful break from being the center of attention; the obvious question sprang instantly to mind. He started to reject it out of hand because asking seemed woefully stupid. Then he thought about it carefully and finally decided he needed to know—not just the answer to this question, but to the question 'how will Jiraiya act when asked difficult questions?'

"Sir...why did you let us keep it?"

"Hm?" Jiraiya asked. "Let you keep what?"

"The scroll, sir. Based on this one deal it's obviously really valuable. Why did you tell Keiko about it in the first place and, once we found it, why didn't you take it from us? You couldn't have known that we'd eventually end up being your clan."

Jiraiya studied him carefully, sipping at his sake cup as he though. Finally he sighed and leaned back in his chair.

"I thought about it," he said. "I told Keiko about it in the first place because I was pretty sure there wasn't anything there. I said that at the time, remember? The chances that it was just legends and stories were much higher than there actually being a lost scroll hiding in the woods somewhere. Still, Okanao has always been a pretty sharp guy so it was possible. Things were busy at home and I didn't want to divert any Leaf ninja, but it was worth sending some missing-nin deniable assets to look into it. I figured you'd go, find nothing, and I'd come up with something else for Keiko's reward. Or maybe you'd find that Okanao had some decent information but it wasn't enough to find the scroll itself in a reasonable time period. You'd tell me whatever you found in the process of your search. I'd give Keiko some jutsu to make up for it, send you guys on your way, and then task a couple of guys from Intelligence to go track down the scoll.

"Imagine my surprise when you actually found the darn thing. You could have knocked me over with a feather!" He smiled and shook his head ruefully. "Craziest thing. Like something out of a storybook.

"Anyway, I thought about taking it from you, but it didn't make sense. I didn't know much about the Pangolins except that they were allies of the Toads, even more warlike and xenophobic than most summons, and touchy. Killing you and giving the scroll to some Leaf ninja would definitely have pissed them off and they probably wouldn't have been well inclined to deal with me."

A shiver ran down Hazō's back at the dispassionate way in which his now-Clan Leader described the possibility of killing all of them and the pragmatic reasons for not doing it.

"Why not?" Noburi asked. "I mean, if it was either have your guy as Summoner or not have a Summoner, why wouldn't they take it?"

"Most summon clans aren't really interested in trading with humans," Jiraiya said. "Like I said, they're pretty much all somewhat xenophobic; we look and smell weird and off-putting to them and there's nothing they absolutely need from us. It's hard for summons to use most human jutsu and seals are, as Keiko already heard, looked on with suspicion. They don't like the idea of their jutsu getting out on the Human Path, and trading physical goods is hard because you're limited to what the Summoner can carry back with her. Having a Summoner is useful to them, but it's not essential."

"Makes sense," Mari-sensei said, nodding. "Four hundred years the scroll sat in Mountain, and in all that time the Pangolins never said to the Toads or any of their other allies, 'Hey, would you mind taking a look around for our scroll? Thanks.'"

"Bingo. Anyway, I could have taken the scroll from you by force but that would definitely have pissed off the Pangolins. Maybe I could have bought it from you or convinced you to give it to me some other way, but even that might have annoyed them.

"On the other hand, suppose I left it with you? I had the start of a decent working relationship with you lot. If I cultivated you then in a few months or a year I would probably have been able to trade with the pangolins through you. I could also send you on missions for me, meaning that the power of the Pangolin Summoner was more or less at my disposal even though you weren't Leaf. Best of all, you were deniable. If I needed someone powerful to send on a critical mission, I could do it without getting Leaf's hands dirty." He paused, clearly weighing whether or not to finish the thought; when he spoke again the words were heavy and slow. "And, of course, I could have always killed you later if I had had to."

The shiver was back in Hazō's spine and it had brought an entire pack of friends.

"My, what a nice salad!" Mari-sensei said, snatching up the salad bowl and giving it a practiced flick that made the contents jump out of the bowl and tumble back in, mixing them in the process. "So, who would like some vegetables with a side order of new topic?"