Welcome back to the Smoke and Mirrors AU.

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Hattori raced over the water to meet the group. It only took two minutes to cross from the current compound of two log cabins to the opposite end of the shore, where Yuki and a group of civilians were waiting.

“Yuki, introduce these people.”

“Yes, Clan Head.”

“Arai Niitamo, and his eldest son, Mako Niitamo. They are Miya-Daiku.” Building Carpenters? Perfect. Hattori nodded, letting her continue.

“Tomei Geima. Surveyor.”

“The Yoroi family, Dai, Maito, and Lee. They are house builders.”

“Hiruzen and Orochimaru. Orphaned brothers, they are tile makers for roofs.”

“Tsunade and Chiyo, Ishiuchi.” Stone cutters.

“Takuma and Maruboshi, Shoji craftsmen and Tatami makers.”

“Tenten, Gaara, and Kankuro. They are road pavers, and good landscapers.” He hummed at that. Those were names that were common in the Land of Wind.

“Zabuza and Haku,” finally Yuki pointed to the last two individuals. They looked like a married couple. “They are irrigation specialists and can tell us where to build wells. They will be crucial for starting farms.”

Hattori nodded. Seventeen people in all. It was quite the group. Some roles were still unfulfilled, but everyone here could take on the other missing roles if needed.

He wasn’t all that experienced in construction. His parents had taught him a little while he had been very, very young. They had built the cabins when he was maybe five or six. He didn’t remember.

All he remembered was the correct way to lay logs on eachother…

With a mental shrug, he realized a small problem.

“We only have one small boat. It’s currently on the other side of the shore, and it will take quite a few trips to bring everyone to the other side.” He furrowed his brows for a few seconds while he thought.

“Are all of you fine with waiting for the boat over? I can have you all transported by foot over the Tawa River by my clansmen.”

The civilians were all clearly uncomfortable with that thought. Tomo Geima, the surveyor, spoke for the group.

“No thank you. We will wait for the boat.”

It was several hours before the final person in the group had traveled across the river, and by then, the sun was cresting in the sky. Tomo Geima had been with the first group to use the boat to cross.

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He had spent those several hours surveying the forest, muttering to himself and sketching in a notebook he kept with him.

Hattori had silently looked over his shoulder a few times, utilizing his stealth skills to remain unnoticed.

He had a fairly comprehensive map of the area so far, and was noting down the geography – any raises in ground level, the flat areas, and the low areas.

Right now, they were all gathered together, and Hattori signaled for Tomo to speak. After all, he would be the primary construction manager. Hattori would simply provide the blueprints and materials for construction, only offering suggestions if he didn’t like something.

“Here’s my current plan.” He spoke slowly, easily measured and confident. Hattori liked this guy already. “A small dock will be placed at the Northernmost, Easternmost, and Westernmost points of the Tawa River from this point.” He pointed downwards. Currently, they were standing in the middle of the small peninsula-esque shape that the Tawa River carved out.

His two log cabins were a decent way from here.

“At the edge of the shore, a large, thick wall will follow the shoreline for the entirety of the Yanmaru Clan’s territory. A hefty stone foundation to ensure resistance against erosion, and thus reducing your land-based territory. The walls themself will be built of clay.” Hattori blanched. That would be… a lot of stone, and a hell of a lot of clay.

“Clay will be the most resistant to Ninjutsu as far as I know. I’ve been the project manager for a few other Ninja-related houses, and this is the common denominator. Earth Ninjutsu struggles to manipulate it. Fire Ninjutsu struggles to melt it.”

“What about Water Ninjutsu, Tomo Geima?” Hattori spoke up. As far as he knew, Water broke apart clay fairly easy.

“Fired Clay, Yanmaru-san. Water can soak it, but it will simply be absorbed, or fall back into the Tawa River. Lightning would be the best choice to try and break it, but Clay tends to disperse it the best out of any material I know.”

He didnt even bother mentioning Wind-style Ninjutsu as he carried on.

“Atop the walls will be tiles, forming a roof. This is just for aesthetic purpose. If you’d prefer it to be a battlement, then sentry positions may be better.”

Hattori thought for a few moments. This was supposed to be a cover, not a battle position.

“Let’s go for tiles. This will be our town, I would like it to be accommodating rather than a fortress.”

Tomo gave him a look that lasted a few seconds longer than it probably should’ve, before noting that down in his book. “Alright. It will have a tiled roof then. At the entrance of each dock will be a large gate to enter the town.”

“The gate will be an open archway, and the doors will be massive. Maybe eight meters high. The walls themselves will be around… ten to twelve meters, depending on budget.”

Hattori sucked in a breath. In exchange for the promise of free housing in the town once finished, these people were working for free, so all thirty-thousand Ryo from the mission would be put towards this.

The wall alone sounded like it would cost all of his free Ryo. He would have to send his Clan out to do more missions.

“Alongside the walls, for the docks, there should be a minimum of one medium sized transport ship for materials. I recommend getting a few other boats for transport, or building a bridge to the other side of the shore. Building bridges would mean you could skip the transport ship.”

Hattori felt his jaw go slack. The cost of just the three bridges, for north, east, and west, as well as the wall…

At least a hundred thousand Ryo.

“We should focus on housing first.”

Tomo smiled and nodded, giving him his approval. “I think we would all appreciate it,” he gestured to the other civilians gathered around a temporary campfire. “I was told you would be the one to draw up blueprints for housing. Is that correct?”

Hattori nodded. “I will provide the blueprints, You, though, will be the one to figure out building placement.”

“I know. Cohesiveness and planning is important. Based on the map I’ve made of the region I was shown as your territory, I think a four-sectioned town would work best.”

“Section one would be for housing. Section two would be for businesses: shops, production, etcetera.”

“The third section would be for education. You mentioned wanting to induct civilians into your clan. Perhaps splitting the education sector into civilian and Shinobi would be wise.”

Hattori nodded again. That made sense.

“The fourth section would be for the Yanmaru exclusively, or the military sector.”

Hattori rolled the idea over in his head. Isolating his clan to a single section sounded… bad. For both integrating the village into his clan, and his own Clan’s outlook on the village.

“It should be a military sector rather than an exclusive area for my Clan.” Tomo looked at him approvingly.

“I’ll draw up a map for the finalized product of the town. This will take around a week to get just right. Until then, I’ll direct everyone here to create a temporary cabin for us to reside in. I know where your cabin is located, and will visit when we’re ready to begin work.”

All of the other workers looked pleased with the outcome. From what they heard, this sounded like quite the nice place to live. Moreover, it would be free for them to live here, rather than the expensive taxes of a Fire Daimyo-owned city like Yamatari.

All of them had worked with Tomo before. They knew his work was extremely high quality!