Hopefully this chapter will upload kindly without any fuckery like the last one

Love to read your review and comment, that is the best part of publishing. You are so sweet.

Olive

There were many times in a day where Kakashi would regret agreeing to taking the mantle of Hokage. He had approximately counted 45 different instances throughout the day when he would lament his times as a simple shinobi (if there was any time he could have been considered a simple shinobi). On tougher days where he had to deal with many meetings with an insane number of people getting on his nerves and a never ending amount of papers to read and sign, he would sigh as discreetly as possible as much as 278 times a day with a rate of 24 times per hour. On those working hours, he hated the job. Times didn't run, it jumped. An hour became minutes if not seconds. Not a moment to open up his favourite books to take a break. He was pretty sure he had aged at least twenty years under his mask in the past two years he had been in office. By the time, he resigned, he would be ready for a retirement house.

He wondered how anyone could dream to be in his chair. The job was, in his mind, a way to sell your soul to the Devil in exchange of a funny hat and a customised cape. He wondered why his sensei, his old friend and his student were all so eager to have them. You had to be crazy to want it so bad. Hell! For what he knew, probably only crazy people could handle it. The pressure to provide, knowing everything, see the big picture in every move, taking decisions that would impact the lives of many could make anyone crumble. Was the position worth all the worry and stressed that came with it?

Well, yes.

Even in his worst day, he loved to know that his efforts would protect his people in a meaningful way. The passion that enduring the most difficult discussions or taking a difficult decision for putting the villagers at bay from any risk was what he loved doing. Bringing security. It was what his father had installed in him: a shinobi had a duty to protect first and foremost. It was at the core of every single ninja, the desire to protect what was precious to them. They endured because they loved. They gave their lives for the village to protect it. It was this passion that animated all the previous Hokage before him and he was sure the one that Naruto had in him making him hopeful for the future.

However, when he saw Hinata Hyuga entered his office that day with a somber expression, in a full Clan attire, a small yellow scarf balled up in a tight fist and a visibly tensed Nara behind her, he almost envisaged to run out of the window to give the hat back to Tsunade-sama. A low growl escaped him, a habit he had developed over the year or so. Usually it was reserved for complicated meetings with high dignitaries or in the occasional festivities he had to assist against his will with important people. Sometimes for Naruto when the knucklehead ninja would pester him about anything and everything but never the sweet Hinata.

He would have had a hard time believing this morning, that it was this meeting that would make this day, and probably the following ones, some of his worst day to come to the office. He was aware that every Hokage have had their fair share of problems to confront. Sarutobi had a war, but also the aftermaths of a tragedy to deal with, his sensei the invasion of there village and the released of a Tail beast or more recently Tsunade had to handle a high proficiency criminal organisation and a war against crazy powerful enemis to lead. His burden was to recover from those incredible hard times and to instal a long-lasting peace for future generation to prosper.

If peace wasn't an easy thing to obtain, maintaining it was a never ending headache. Rebuild the destroyed village, soothe the tensions, attend the sicks, cope with the traumas, grieve the dead, trades with old enemies turned allies, established strong foundations to make sure such a violent occurrence never happens ever again.

When Hinata had requested a meeting almost a month ago now, it had been judged moderately urgent. The motif had been the arrangement of her mission schedule, or lack of thereof. Those kind of requests was usually sorted out in a few minutes and deemed non urgent in the system. Being the heiress of the most powerful clan in Konoha, her demand has been upheld to a higher matter, but still he had thought they would just talk for twenty minutes, about her taking on more mission, going back in her team and doing some solo B and A mission to compensate her last months of non activities. He had cleared out an hour to make sure he had a break to finally decompress.

Unfortunately, this meeting had to be rescheduled. Three weeks ago, he had received mysterious reports of a threat. It had been dealt with and he frankly had forgotten about that meeting with the young woman. It was Shikamaru who had reminded him, pressing the matter, rescheduling it with his secretary. It had been odd if not worrisome that the assistant of the head security would insist so much on seeing the kunoichi, but now that she was in front of him, he understood that he wasn't Hinata that he saw but the Heiress of the Hyuga.

He addressed her a polite smile under his mask before inviting her to sit in the chair facing his desk. She bowed, greeting him with the appropriate and the right amount of respect, as always her etiquette being excellent. It didn't ease the tension as she took off the scarf around her neck before sitting, back as straight as a broomstick, her expression a chilling neutral state. Rarely he had seen the young woman so... Hyuga. Behind her, Shikamaru was standing his posture tensed.

Kakashi sighed. It was 2 pm. He thought of his books in his left drawer gently waiting for him to open. 'Not today.' He lamented in his mind.

"I believe your original request was concerning your shinobi career." He started taking the standard paper form that she had filled. She nodded.

"It was. But since then, the issue has shifted." She responded eying the corners of the office. A shiver ran through the room. True, she was like every other Hyuga, a sensorial ninja. With a hand sign he ordered the Anbu presents to leave. They materialised before bowing and exiting. As soon the last one gone, the Hokage sealed the room.

No one outside of that door could hear or see anything. They were in the strictest confidentiality.

The atmosphere shifted, tension loosens as their posture slacked a bit. They were between trust worthy people. Kakashi eyed the young woman in front of him. She was visibly putting in order her thoughts before talking. She seemed upset by something, which wasn't a good new, but couldn't find a way to phrase it. And so he helped her talking first :

"I had hoped you wanted to see me to tell me you were ready to go back on mission schedule. Our best tracking team is greatly missing his feminine touch." She smiled. Her team was always a soft spot for her.

"I hoped I could have said the same Hokage-sama." Her smile faded as she directly followed up in the same breath. "I am afraid I only come with bad news. I come today to seek help for my Clan. The past few months, tension has risen up and I fear an insurgence from the Branch side." There she said it. The truth was out there for them to hear. Kakashi shifted unconfortable in his seat.

"Did the Elders know that you are here ?" He asked.

"They are aware that I came to see you to talk about my career as a Konoha shinobi as I had first requested, but no one knows that I am here to ask for your help. Not even my father." Her answer was formal : she was here as a Hyuga heiress looking for her leader to help her prevent the collapse of her entire family.

It was a first. No Huyga has ever turned toward an outside help for the running of their politics. They were more than a powerful clan. They were a state in the state. With their own shinobi forced, their inside politics, their outside alliances and separated life. The Branch side extended far outside the walls of Konoha. All sealed. All responding to the Head: Hiashi Hyuga. They had joined the villages as large donors and to deepen the established notion that Konoha was the home of the two most powerful kekkei genkai in the world as well as the jail of the nine tailed beast. They responded to the authority of the Hokage but they could as well ignore it in most of their business outside of Konoha, the deal being a small retribution in every transaction had to go directly to the village treasury. In exchange, the leader of the village didn't have the right to swoop in intern politics. What happened in the clan stayed in the clan. This was a transgression of the very core of the relationship between the Hyuga and the village.

"When you say insurgence, how close are we from an Uchiha massacre ?" Kakashi asked. The flame in Hinata's eyes harden as if it was possible.

"The Branch member are on the verge of preparing a coup d'état. It had been reported, violence and repression against clansmen and women alike from elders and the men under them. We are on a very very perilous balanced right now. Discussion are as we speak share to decide the future of the clan and his face. The Main side is very well aware that something is on the verge of exploding and are provoking again and again. They are waiting. At the first sign of violence they will unleash the seal on anyone in the estate with it. It will be a bloodshed.

"A civil war." Shikamaru finished grimly.

This time Kakashi sighed loudly. This was... this was not needed right now. A sharp pain of stress pulsed right on his brows.

Looking at his two ninjas, his fast minds worked hard on what consequence, such a predicament could cost them. Other than a terrible massive human loss if a civil war came to happen, it would weaken alliances, possibly loosing definitely the Byakugan, surely for the village becoming vulnerable to certain threats the Hyugas were dealing for them which meant new enemies. Let's face it, the loss of a consequential financial support they absolutely needed right now. They barely survived the almost complete annihilation of one massively powerful clan. And again, the consequences of having a sole survivor, not very well mentally supported, almost cost them everything. Sasuke did became crazy for a time and wanted to destroy the village. The Hokage didn't want that. Ever. Again. If anyone with there all seeing eyes was coming to be all revengeful against Konoha, he wasn't sure they could go back up.

Hinata surely wouldn't. It also came down to her protection too. She was clearly in a difficult position, but if the Main came to fall down, her head as well as her sisters and father would be the first to fall. She was scared it would come down to this. She didn't want to die by the hand of her family. She didn't want them to touch a hair of her beloved sister. She didn't want to stand in between two sides she deeply cared about, but when it came down to her sister, she would burn everything on her way to keep her from harm. The idea made her sick.

Sometimes at night, she would have nightmares about the outcome. She would see angry byakugan eyes and her sister's bloody corps being dragged by ominous branded figures. She would see her father screaming in pain and bodies on bodies of clansmen branded and unbranded alike with the compound burning as a sinister background. The ominous presage was frightening.

"What can we do?" Kakashi asked. He looked at her visible distressed. In an uncharacteristic manner, he reached for her hand. He knew what it was like to feel so powerless in such a difficult circumstance. She looked at his extended hand toward her hesitant.

"I have a plan. I need your opinion on it and I came to ask you to have my back if it fails. I just want my family to be at peace and for them to stop hurting so much." A sob strangled her voice. "There are a lot of young children that will need a home if it came down to the worst outcome. And my sister too. I want them to be sure they will be safe and cared for. Not hunt down for their eyes or to be branded or killed. I just.. please help them." Her voice that was, until now so strong and absolute failed and turned into a desperate plead. She was begging. Shikamaru's hand flew to her shoulder, squeezing it gently. Her glossy eyes flew to his face as a resolute stares pinned her down in her chair. He looked at their leader with seriousness as he nodded.

"Hinata, you can trust us." Kakashi assured. "Nothing will happen to them." She took his hands closing her eyes tight nodding grateful a single tear falling on her pale face. Shikamaru's tightened his squeeze a little before letting go taking a seat next to her. She turned her head to recomposed a little rapidly sweeping away the last trace of tears from her eyes before turning back her head the hardening flame of justice back in her stare.

They will do this together.

Kakashi put his chin on his joined hands. A quick look on his left, he saw Shikamaru's brain working extra hard. They all had the same look passion animating them.

They protect.

They endured because they loved their people. They were shinobies.

"So start from the beginning. What is going on with the elders ? What do they want to do about the heir situation ? And what are you planning to do ?"