Konoha had only just been established, and there was still so much to be done. Nara Luking was feeling irritable after being pressured to marry, so she slipped away to the South Crane River to skip stones.
It was there that she met a spiky-haired boy who seemed just as troubled. After they met and chatted for a bit, he told her how strictly his younger brother kept an eye on him, and how his best friend’s ideas clashed with his own.
Nara Luking: Oh, this... Lord Hashirama's disguise is so halfhearted. I seem to have learned far more than I should!
With no other choice, Nara Luking decided to play dumb, overlooking every flaw in the person before her and earnestly helping him figure out how to resolve these "family matters."
And so, a certain spiky-haired boy gained himself another outside brain.
Later, because this outside brain was just so useful, he even shared her with his best friend.
The Uchiha Clan Head, who had been dragged into a little meeting and had no choice but to use the Transformation Technique to turn himself into a child: ...
Alas, that brain was just too useful. The battlefield rose had come to love it, and Nara Luking had no choice but to become the two men's strategist, sadly giving up her laid-back life and getting pulled into all sorts of village affairs.
Later still, Nara Luking realized that the two of them had stopped even pretending. They no longer used the Transformation Technique when they went to the South Crane River, and whenever they saw her in the village, they greeted her enthusiastically. Everyone in the village began to think she must have some special talent to have climbed so high, and even her father quietly asked if she had such high standards that she had turned down the marriage candidates he introduced.
Nara Luking: Does this make any sense? They're the ones who keep throwing themselves at me, so why does everyone think I'm the problem?
Either you explode in silence or perish in silence. Faced with this problem, Nara Luking decided to go completely berserk and take everyone down with her. So, during one conversation, she snidely mocked a certain wild-haired man.
"Look at you. You've got strength and status to spare. Hashirama built the village alongside you, yet the clans in the village recognize the First Hokage and not you. You're really something."
"Then tell me, how do I fix it?"
"Simple. An arranged marriage."
"You want me to marry you?"
"You'd accept that? If you were willing to enter an arranged marriage, you wouldn't still be single at your age."
A certain Uchiha Clan Head raised an eyebrow at that, then turned around and sent an invitation to the Nara Clan.
And so... Nara Luking found herself inexplicably engaged. Then, amid the blessings of the entire village, the girl who had least wanted to enter the graveyard of marriage ended up getting married after all. The only difference was that the man she married treated her very, very well.
And after that? The village grew stronger and stronger, ushering in the era of shinobi nations. In this country, both shinobi and ordinary people came to live happy, fulfilling lives.
Theme: Everyone has the right to pursue happiness.
