In Naruto: Reborn with Talent

"Sensei, you and your advisors," Tsunade glanced at Koharu and Homura, "have a day to vacate your offices."

Hiruzen just resignedly nodded whereas both Homura and Koharu widened their eyes in astonishment at being dismissed like this. The lifetime of service was not worth even a polite dismissal? That rubbed both of them the wrong way.

And while Homura was the calmer of the two and stayed silent, only observing the happenings while thinking what to do to salvage his situation, Koharu had a bit of a temper.

"What!? Why!? You can't just kick us out without a proper reason!" She screamed while involuntarily standing up without even realizing it until her bones protested with a dull ache.

Tsunade looked funnily at Koharu, her look relaying exactly what her thoughts about the old woman's intelligence were. "I can and I just did. Every Hokage can appoint and dismiss the advisors at his leisure. Hiruzen's dismissal from the Hokage seat automatically means your own dismissal. Your lifelong appointment to the position was only because of Hiruzen's relationship with you. I find it funny you actually fought so much against him on so many issues and yet he didn't use his right to outright dismiss you. After all, you two were supposed to be his greatest allies. That's what the Hokage advisors are there for. To support the Hokage. You must have forgotten that bit in your old age." She snarked. "You two grew far too complacent in your seats. You think you can do whatever and nobody would give a shit. Well, think again!"

It was obvious Tsunade was not amused by Koharu's attitude. After she delivered her verbal bashing unto the old woman, she calmed down and decided to completely nail their careers to the ground without any chance to save them.

"And if you want a proper reason..." Tsunade momentarily halted, causing Homura to stiffen as the old man knew nothing good would be said next if Tsunade's tone was any indication. "I know well it is impossible to properly falsify a mission order... like the one for the Uchiha massacre without you two knowing about it. You not only betrayed your Hokage and went behind his back. You conspired to end an entire clan, from elderly to toddlers, and as such, you were part of what most of us would call high treason. Shouldn't you be happy to not be thrown into prison straight away? Where the heck do you get the balls to argue against your dismissal I will never know..." She amusedly shook her head at the two old people who looked as if they sucked a moldy lemon.

The clan heads now looked at them with a mix of disgust, wariness, and hostility. Sure, most of the time, they were at each other's throats. There was also the fact that nobody really liked the arrogant Uchihas. But they were clans and could sympathize. They could easily imagine themselves in the position of the Uchiha clan.

It was far too easy to imagine the Yamanaka clan as a threat with their mind Jutsus.

It was far too easy to imagine the Nara clan as a threat with their inborn smarts and shadow Jutsus.

It was far too easy to imagine the Hyuuga clan as a threat because of their Byakugan abilities.

In short, every clan had something that made them dangerous and different. They all had to have a measure of trust between themselves to cohabitate a single village. Every clan had their secrets, their own ways they could endanger the village at any given moment. But that was how Konoha was always supposed to work. The entire premise of the village upon its founding was based on building at least basic trust between clans and making them work together for a common goal. These political spats in the council room were just that. Momentary spats that faded from the mind the second the clan heads left the council room.

Frankly, the biggest dispute between clans could be said to be the past Hyuuga-Uchiha hatred... and even then the Uchihas and Hyuugas could seamlessly work together to accomplish missions without a single complaint. They simply preferred not to interact and usually stood on the different sides of many issues. But that was it.

Konoha depended on trust between clans and the government. The second the Uchiha clan was pushed to the outskirts the village broke a very vital requirement for the coexistence between the clan and the village.

Tsunade felt ashamed for her sensei when she heard he could not appease the Uchihas. She couldn't really comprehend how hard it would be to let them back to their previous compound in the center of the clan district? That was all he needed to do. Let them go back home and leave them a free hand to do what they wished like any other clan. As for the Uchiha becoming too ambitious after getting the said free hand... the other clans would simply hammer their ego down whenever they tried to stick out. That's how Konoha worked for almost fifty years. The clans kept each other in check.

As for Danzo... he was still reveling at the fact Tsunade did not mention him. He was not an Elder of the Advisory Council. He was now in the Konoha Council in one of the elected civilian seats. Danzo refused to believe Tsunade didn't know it was him who forged Itachi's orders. Narrowing his eye, he wondered what she was playing at.

"Now... I could become the new Hokage." Tsunade started, "But I already am an equivalent of Daimyo for Konoha. Hence, the new Hokage will be Shikaku Nara." She offhandedly said, causing a loud bang to resound from Shikaku's direction, followed by a painful groan of the man whose head just impacted the table due to his almost heart-stopping shock.

Shikaku couldn't believe his ears. He lifted his head from the hard wooden table, completely ignoring the bruise right in the middle of his forehead. Whipping his tired body up, he leaned forward with a frantic expression. "You can't do that to me!" He shouted almost hysterically, getting weirded-out gazes from most of the clan heads while Inoichi and Choza simply mirthfully chuckled. Only Shibi was as stoic as ever but even his amusement could be deciphered from the buzz of his bugs.

"Ah, lucky you!" Choza boomed and patted Shikaku's back, laughing his ass off at the misfortune of his friend. He knew how much the Nara men despised any notion of becoming the Hokage.

"Yoshino will be pleased." Inoichi joined the teasing, making Shikaku's face scrunch in a grimace.

"Eh, don't worry, Shikaku." Tsunade grinned. "I only need you to do the paperwork and tend to the council. I am sure you will enjoy the fulfilling experience. I already sent a job offer to Yoshino for the spot of your secretary! Aren't I thoughtful?"

Shikaku could just flop back into his seat as despair started to claim his soul.

'This is just a nightmare. Yes... I will wake up in the morning and the world will be a lot less insane. I am sure of it. Becoming Hokage? Having my nagging wife as my secretary? God! All that paperwork! All that nagging! All that nagging during the paperwork! All that nagging to do the paperwork! Yes... simply a nightmare.' He thought as he started to close his eyes in hope to wake up.

"Just imagine Yoshino's reaction when she finds out you are the new Hokage and she is your secretary." Tsunade slyly said, causing Choza and Inoichi to snort, knowing well Yoshino's personality.

'Hmm, all that nagging to do Yoshino instead of the paperwork? Maybe Tsunade is right and this isn't such a bad idea? ... Oh, who am I kidding! She is just trying to manipulate me! Such a drag...' Shikaku wearily sighed in defeat. It was far too troublesome to argue his case.