Chapter 60

Kakashi consults Tsunade

Kakashi had called Lady Tsunade to come visit him to talk about a difficult matter he was facing. He had to appoint someone as the advisor to the Hokage, and the person he had in mind would be perfect. The only trouble is that this new advisor had fallen in love with a member of the Sand village and the entire matter of their future happiness fell on Kakashi. The worst part was that the elders in the village were extremely traditional and he knew it wouldn't be easy for them to open their minds to new possibilities.

Lady Tsunade was about 10 minutes late already, and he was wondering if she forgot about the meeting when she walked in.

"Sorry I'm late Hokage," she said as she took a seat in the chair across from him.

"It's fine Lady Tsunade, I was actually wondering if you could help me out on something." He asked. He then explained his situation to her to try to see if she had another perspective on how to handle it.

"Are you serious? Do you think they will change their minds?" She asked with surprise.

"It isn't at all likely. I am ready to support their choice, but the only problem I'm facing is the elders." He replied.

"Yeah, they aren't going to like this at all." Tsunade stood up and started pacing the room while she thought of ideas. Kakashi sat back in his chair and waited for her reply.

"I've never got along well with the Elders, in fact our relationship has been a nightmare. I'm probably the last person that you want to ask." She added.

"really? That's all you have, what about information about them and their past, maybe appealing to young love?" Kakashi offered.

"This isn't one of Jariya's stupid books Kakashi, things don't work that way." She replied.

Kakashi hung his head in defeat.

"Maybe this is something your advisor could help you on?" She pointed out. She smiled about how well this could work with Shikamaru pulling the strings. "If I know Shikamaru I know that he will find a way and he won't give up."

"You're right," Kakashi responded. "It looks like I'm going to have to call him in to solve his own problem afterall." Kakashi smiled.

"You need to be ready for them to fight you on this and you need to have good reasons for approving the request in the first place." She added.

"Thank you Lady Tsunade, this is a really good idea." He stood up from his chair, getting ready to call the guard to retrieve Shikamaru.

She nodded her head "anytime," she replied. "Let's talk after you make a strategy and we can see how well it will measure up." She smiled as she bowed slightly and left his office.

As she left he followed to get the guard and asked him to retrieve Shikamaru.

The guard didn't hesitate and left quickly, looking at the work groups and at his house, until he heard a tip that Shikamaru hadn't joined a work group for the day and that he was spending an awful lot of time with Temari of the sand. On his way to the apartment he found Shikamaru walking towards town.

The guard walked up to him, "Hey Shikamaru," he called out "The Hokage would like to see you."

Shikamaru caught up to the guard and they walked back to headquarters together. The guard knocked on and opened Kakashi's door and Kakashi asked him to enter.

Shikamaru had been deep in thought after seeing the guard, wondering why Kakashi would be seeking out only him and not also Temari. He expected that Kakashi's answer was no, and was working on his next steps and strategies.

"Hokage," Shikamaru began, "I thought you said you would have your answer in a few days?" Puzzled because he had just seen Kakashi last night. His answer was quicker than he expected.

"Please sit down Shikamaru, there are a few things that we need to discuss." Kakashi also took a seat across from where he wanted Shikamaru to sit and motioned to the chair.

Shikamaru reluctantly took his seat.

Kakashi could see that Shikamaru was agitated and wanted to clear the air with him so they had a chance for discussion.

"To start with Shikamaru, I know I said it would take a few days and I already have my answer regarding your marriage." Kakashi began.

Shikamaru was silent and kept his head slightly bowed down but was glaring down at the floor the entire time.

"Right," he continued when he got no response from Shikamaru, "I am in favor of it and will advocate that to the elders. However, even though Garra said all that was needed was my support, that's not how the Leaf does things. I need to try to reach a consensus with the elders and then we can move forward."

Shikamaru couldn't believe what he had heard, he was sure Kakashi would have said no. He looked up at Kakashi with a big smile. "Thank you Hokage," he replied. He understood the elders would be difficult but as long as he had Kakashi's approval he felt like it was possible. If the heads of two villages could support them, there was hope that this wouldn't be as difficult as he thought.

Kakashi bowed his head slightly at Shikamaru's reply and continued. "There are a few things we still needed to discuss." He reminded him.

Shikamaru nodded his head and waited.

"As you know, every Hokage has an advisor and I haven't picked mine yet. I already had one in mind but hadn't had a chance to formalize my decision yet. I was hoping you might accept." Kakashi knew that Shikamaru might say no, but understanding there was no one who could even come close he hoped he would consent.

Shikamaru really wasn't surprised that Kakashi had asked him. He had been waiting for it ever since he had been made Hokage and thought this would also be good leverage in asking Kakashi for a favor. He knew that after his strategies in the last war it was only a matter of time before something like this happened anyways. "I'm honored Hokage, and I accept your offer." He replied as he bowed his head.

"I'm glad, because I already need your help." He began. "I had already planned to ask you, like I mentioned before, and then you came in yesterday ready to marry someone from another village. It will be difficult to convince the elders let alone having this happen with an advisor of the village. Your first task will be to figure a way around this situation with the elders."

He raised his eyebrows and then smiled. His first task was to sort out the issue of his own marriage. 'This couldn't have worked out more perfectly.' He thought. "Can you tell me what you've come up with so far, any information could be helpful." He pointed out.

"Not much, Lady Tsunade and I had a meeting this morning to come up with strategy and the best idea we had was to pull you in to look at this. Her relationship with the elders is terrible at best and they aren't interested in treating me as a part of the governing body of the village, although I plan to change that dynamic soon."

Everyone in the village knew the reputation the elders had for being difficult towards the Hokage. Their purpose was to bring balance to protect the village from a dictatorship, although they failed to do their job when Danzo was appointed Hokage.

"Okay, I will come up with a strategy and some back up plans for dealing with the elders in a few days, it's alright to let Temari in on this, right?" He thought her insight could also be helpful.

"Yes, I think we need her involved too." Kakashi replied.

Shikamaru thanked Kakashi again for his support and for the selection of advisor, and decided it was time to head back to his house to talk to his mom.