Chapter 65
The plan
Shikamaru had walked around the village while he assembled the strategy he needed to change his future. He had to admit the recent appointment of advisor did make the situation more complicated, but he was good at complicated and welcomed the challenge.
He decided to pay a visit to Lady Tsunade before going to Kakashi since she knew the elders and the other kages better than he did.
"Shikamaru," she said with surprise when he walked into her office.
"I hope you don't mind, the door was open," he pointed out. He noticed she had piles of books and scattered pages all over. He raised his eyebrows as he looked around and then returned his focus to her.
"It's fine, and yes, this place is a mess," she returned. "We're trying to salvage the medical ninjuitsu records as best we can. What can I do for you?" She asked as she pushed some pages into a stack.
"I think I have a strategy and I want to run it past you." She nodded and he walked forward to take a seat. "There are several areas that we need to approach this from at once and all areas have to work together for this to be successful," He began. "For example, normally I would work up a plan A, B, C, D etcetera, but for this we will need that many working in different directions before we get started."
"What do you have worked out so far?" She rested her head in her hands as she listened.
"We need someone to go to the three remaining villages and talk to the Kages and then call a 5 kage summit. We also need the shinobi from the 5 villages to hear about this issue and voice their opinions. If they can be reasoned with they also might be able to persuade their Kages."
"Your plan sounds pretty good, except you left out any mention of the elders. What have you considered as far as they're concerned?" She gave him a hard look.
"I need to meet the elders and get them to like me."
"So far you have heard their reputation for being difficult, if it were so easy don't you think that I, or even Kakashi for that matter, would have been able to make that happen by now for us?"
"I will need some help from you and Kakashi in this. I'm in a unique position since Kakashi appointed me as his advisor, and both of you aren't well liked by them. There isn't much I know about them other than they dislike the balance of power that they have to share with the Hokage. What if I use this to our advantage. Kakashi will tell them that I requested that they train me for my position and I can make them feel like I will adopt their view point to persuade Kakashi. This is the only plan I have to create favor with them until there is more tangible information to go on."
"And who's going to go to the remaining villages? She eyed Shikamaru.
"I'm going to request that Nartuo and Hinata go to the remaining villages. It will be good for them to look at two people in love while they think about the proposal. I'm also hoping that because of Naruto's involvement in the war as a hero, they will hear him out. And if they don't…"
"Then you don't need to make another strategy because he has such a big mouth and never gives up." Lady Tsunade smiled at Shikamaru. "What about Temari? Does she have a role to play in this?"
"Temari will come into play later after I've spent time with the elders and have developed a relationship with them. She can help by continuing with her group to rebuild and by continuing to place herself in a position to represent the Sand Village while she's here. The more time she spends with people in the Leaf and the more she's seen as one of us, the easier the transition will be." He returned.
She stood up and put her hand on his shoulder, "you truly are Shikaku's son, Shikamaru."
"Thank you Lady Tsunade," he bowed his head as he spoke.
"I'll fill Kakashi in if you don't mind, I was headed to see him anyway. I'll have him call you when the meeting with the elders is set. Nice work Shikamaru." She added.
"I'll go find Naruto and Hinata." He nodded at her as he left her office and walked back into the village.