It’s a lot of paperwork.

Communiqués between Choko and Danzo. Letters between the clan heads. Mission reports from D to A-rank. Years of insect breeding data and scientific abstracts. Dossiers on all the captive women. Family trees depicting all the clan member relations to minimize bloodline inbreeding. Secret and forbidden jutsus. Yearly budgets extending decades into the past. Resource allocation. Holdings. Investments.

Altogether, it paints a picture of a clan in slow decline becoming increasingly desperate for a way to get ahead. Hence all the under-the-table dealings and experiments of dubious morality.

The evidence is not enough to put Danzo away for good, but it’ll inconvenience him and make me look good for handing it over to the Jonins and clan heads. I’ll be selective in what I reveal, of course, if it behooves me to keep some things quiet.

However, the non-consensual breeding has to go.

Imomushi and I go case-by-case through the list to decide what to do with the women. Some are bad people who will be returned to a (hopefully) more human prison sentence. Others are POWs who know too much. That’s a more difficult question.

I decide to improve their quality of life, to start with. They’ll be held as semi-permanent ‘guests’ with good food, books to read, and scheduled social interaction until what they know becomes declassified. At which point, letters will be sent to their Village of origin demanding a modest ransom in exchange for their return. Considering the POWs’ well-earned animosity toward the Aburame clan and the hostile circumstances of their capture, that’s the best I can do.

As for the vagrants and drifters, I offer them a choice. They can have the POW treatment until I go fully public with the new Aburame clan’s capabilities, or they can join the clan as retainers. New clan members get protection, jobs, and minimum wage as long as they don’t betray the trust extended to them. Some even choose to continue as insect breeders!

The sex can be addictive… but at least they’re not strapped to tables anymore. They get PTO, compensation per pregnancy, a retirement plan, and lots more cuddles plus aftercare.

Actually, with the change in policy I instate, the job becomes a lot more attractive to retainers who were previously exempt from breeding and low-rank clan members. After a few weeks to show things won’t revert to the old ways, I wouldn’t be surprised if the volunteers outnumber the victims of the previous administration.

Huh, it’s like resorting to abduction and rape wasn’t ever necessary!

In all seriousness, some of the Dweller users have to be removed from staff. Most performed their duty to the clan in good faith. Others enjoyed their jobs and had a good rapport with the breeders; a few even with relationships that endured my purge. A few, however, enjoyed their job in a bad way and let the power go to their heads.

I choose to be merciful given the lax policies of the previous administration but take a close look at reports of sadistic behavior, and a select few need to be made examples of. I establish strict guidelines on the conduct between futanari and breeder, including the creation of an HR department.

It’s a ton of paperwork.

In other news, resolving Kurenai’s situation isn’t as easy as I’d hoped. Hinata gave me a thorough briefing on the situation. I didn’t feel comfortable taking a personal hand in our sensei’s retrieval given my involvement in instigating the current situation.

After purging the Pheromones from her system, Kurenai was devastated when Hinata told her about the attack on Konoha. The kunoichi’s condition had escalated to sex addiction with an emphasis on worshiping ridiculously large cocks, courtesy of Choko. She felt ashamed for abandoning her duty and will be spending long hours with Hinata’s sympathetic ear to help her through those emotions.

Some feelings for Asuma linger, despite everything, but she says there’s no fixing what’s broken in this case. Asuma couldn’t satisfy her new sexual appetites even if they were able to reconcile.

On that note, Kurenai is going ‘cold turkey’ celibate for a while. Long enough to get the kunoichi doing missions again. After that, Hinata says she’ll be rehabilitating Kurenai’s sex life with sweet, passionate, lesbianism. No dicks in sight.

As long as Kurenai is happy, that’s fine with me.

Maybe, later on, Kurenai might feel comfortable enough to let Hinata lead her into our bed, but I won’t be aggressively pursuing that angle. Instead, I’ll be giving Asuma that long-promised apology tour.

“Thank you, Shino-chan. How very punctual.”

At the end of the two days I was given, Kakashi accepts the fat stack of paperwork from me with a smile behind his mask. He flips through it using the Sharingan to memorize everything in a second. “Excellent. I believe we can avoid the Aburame clan’s censure with this.”

Good. I made sure to include plenty of evidence on a few scapegoats (the Dweller users who I deemed too sadistic to reform). Pinning everything on a few bad eggs should make the transition go more smoothly.

“The references to Danzo-kun are concerning. The Third sincerely hoped Danzo-kun had turned over a new leaf, but this evidence suggests otherwise. However, what you’ve included will only result in a slap on the wrist while making you a dangerous enemy.”

Kakashi is referring to the human trafficking. It’s distasteful, but since the victims weren’t Konoha citizens (according to what I have documented), Danzo’s influence will likely be able to keep him out of jail. As for his alleged conspiracy against the Third…

The only way to make that stick would be to force Choko to testify against him. She’d implicate herself in doing so, and Konoha’s judicial system is not one to give leniency to those testifying against their accomplice. She might get executed for treason or be targeted for assassination by those grieving for the Third.

Sacrificing one piece to take another is not my style. Choko may be the lowest of the low, but I did take her as a concubine. She belongs to me now. I won’t tolerate losing any of my women.

Then his expression changes as he plucks one page from the stack to read more closely. “You’re offering compensation for the Aburame clan’s lack of participation in Konoha’s defense?”

I nod. “I can graft a Kekkei Genkai of their choice onto the clans’ bloodlines.” That should shut up naysayers like Hiashi. They won’t be overly concerned with the Aburame clan’s ascension once they realize I’m willing to exchange the fruits of my labor for favors. Rising tides lift all ships, as they say.

“I’m more interested in the ‘Apology Tour.’” He waves the paper at me. “You’ve invited several Jonin to this party. Why aren’t I on the list?”

I gulp.

“Because I wanted to invite you in person?”

“Oh, alright then. Thanks for the invitation, Shino-chan.” I think he’s winking at me, but it’s hard to tell with his Sharingan covered by his headband.

Whew.

That should do it. I think I have all the angles on my situation covered with appropriate patches on the cracks. My position is secure. I’m really being recognized as the next Aburame clan Matriarch!

Ladonyx

I'm going on break for a while, just a mental vay-cay. The plan is to prep a batch of chapters and post them back-to-back. Next chapter will be a Tayuya scene.