Nindō: Dominion

"Sensei," Naruto greeted the man with a happy smile on his face and a firm handshake as his clone, who had the white Seventh Hokage cloak folded under his arm, left. "I'm already running a little late. How about you join me, Shikamaru, and Chōji for drinks?"

"I guess we could go out," Kakashi said. "As long as you youngsters don't mind the presence of my old bones with you."

"Of course, we don't mind," Naruto said. "You always have the best stories to tell us. Shall we leave?"

Naruto and Kakashi walked side by side to the stairs, "What do you think about the proposal, sensei?" The current Hokage asked his predecessor.

"To head the Anbu since Sai is busy?" Kakashi said casually. "Of course, I'm not doing it. Did you think I would come out of retirement for this? I just came to meet you today because I wanted to see how you've been doing."

"I expected as much," Naruto chuckled. "I need you to use your sweet talking skills to convince Yamato-sensei to return and take up Sai's position until he returns, which will be in a month at least. We need someone leading the Anbu during this time."

"Doesn't Sai have a second-in-command for this stuff?" Kakashi said.

"He does, but he isn't the most leadership-oriented. He's a good shinobi, no doubt, but not a good leader. We won't lose functioning if Sai is gone for a week or two, but when he is gone for a whole month, maybe more if need be, we need someone competent to take up his position temporarily."

"I'll call him up," Kakashi said. "What's up with you these days? Why was Sasuke's daughter using your lap as her pillow? I'd better not hear that you're planning to replace him as her daddy. You know the kind I'm talking about."

Naruto's expression darkened as he heard Kakashi's words. "She's a kid for crying out loud. You perverted old man, stop reading those erotic novels all the time," He said. "I took her in as my disciple and was helping her recover after a difficult training session. That's all. And why were you waiting there for so long? Were you expecting to see something else?"

"Hmm," Kakashi said amusedly. "Whatever you say."

"She's just a kid who didn't have her father's presence in her life, sensei. If I do end up pampering her a little, what's the harm in that? She'll get to feel some of the warmth that she missed because Sasuke wasn't there."

"I'm not against you doing what you're doing, Naruto," Kakashi said. "Both you and I are in part responsible for the girl not having her father at home with her. I understand if you wish to try and make it up to her. I'm just unsure if this is the way to go about it."

"Go on," Naruto asked Kakashi to continue.

"Think about it. Sasuke has never been too close to her for her entire life. I'm not even sure if they've ever met. Even though Sasuke returned for the whole debacle with those Ōtsutsuki, I doubt he met her even then. All she knows are things that Sakura must've told her about him. Under such a situation, you come in, offering her an apprenticeship. I don't know much about her personally, but to almost every kid of her generation other than your own son, you are a hero of unfathomable proportions. If I consider her to be the same, you have a child who has just been offered to become an apprentice of her hero. She will doubtlessly be very excited about the opportunity and, without even realizing it, start leaning on you with her problems. Even if you think of it as a simple master-disciple relationship, if you don't set some very clear and strict boundaries, she will rely on you to the point of calling you daddy in her sleep, wishing you were her actual father. You won't even realize when that ends up happening, and by then, it's going to be too late. Lastly, considering her current age and the nature of her relationship with you … those feelings will very quickly devolve into something much more taboo."

Naruto was silent throughout Kakashi's explanation, impressed by how much the man was able to analyze despite being mostly uninvolved in the village's current situation, "… Fuck," He said. "You analyzed deep into it, sensei. Is that what you were thinking for the two or so hours that you were observing her?"

"It comes with age," Kakashi said, still not addressing Naruto's secondary line of questioning. "So? What do you plan to do about it?"

"For one, Sasuke has met her more than a few times at this point. Maybe their first meeting wasn't under the best circumstances, but that's all in the past," Naruto said. "Secondly, I ended up lifting his restriction on teaching her, so he was able to pass some of his techniques to her in a week or so that he stayed in Konoha. I'll also see if I can give them some dedicated time to train together as well so that he can pass on the Uchiha clan's legacy to her."

"Did the council approve?" Kakashi raised a brow, "I don't see the two elders agreeing to lift the restriction even if you threatened them with their lives."

"You didn't hear?" Naruto raised a brow. "The late Elders Koharu and Homura were lost to us on a tragic day last week."

"Are you serious?" Kakashi stopped in his tracks to look at Naruto.

"Dead serious. They are gone, the daimyo has told me to appoint a new proxy who needs to take their place to voice out his will in the village's matters."

"I really shouldn't be saying this," Kakashi sighed. "But good fucking riddance. Maybe now, the shinobi of the village can actually prosper."

"You know," Naruto said, an amused smile on his face. "You are the first one to truly voice out your thoughts regarding them, Kakashi-sensei."

"No. No, it truly is a great loss to the village," The masked man frowned seriously. "My condolences."

Naruto shook his head, "Getting back on the previous topic … I do feel a sense of guilt toward her inwardly because I was also partially responsible for her not having her father at home, ever. Sadly, Sasuke still can't stay in the village, not to mention he needs to look for this new lead about the Ōtsutsuki that we've found in Ame. He's the only one who can do the job because only he has the necessary space-time abilities to track them down."

"I told you what I think, Naruto. You are an adult and know what the best action would be," Kakashi said. "I don't care, nor do I plan to poke my nose in matters that are no longer relevant to me. I am completely retired."

Naruto laughed. "Well, I'll be sure to drink a toast to your retirement tonight."

…

The four shinobi, each of them a powerhouse in their own right with fearsome reputations; two of them heads of two of the major clans of the village; the third, the Hokage, and the fourth, the former Hokage and a war hero with an infamous reputation and a kill count in the triple digits over his life. All of them got absolutely wasted that night. Especially after hearing that they were allowed to drink as much as they needed and that Naruto would take care of the bills. They discussed and argued about matters of such importance that if a civilian ever heard them, they would be deemed as a crazy conspiracy theorist.

Eventually, Kakashi left, deeming that old age was getting to him, and he had his books to focus on. It was the same with Chōji, who had things to take care of at home, leaving merely Naruto and Shikamaru in their private room.

"You don't need to go home?" Naruto asked.

"I should be asking you the same."

"I asked first."

"What does it matter?"

"Together?"

"Works."

"I told Shikadai to sleep early." "I told Hinata that I'll be home late."

"What did you say?" Shikamaru asked, not having understood Naruto's words over his own.

"I already said, I'm not repeating myself."

"Fucking hell," Shikamaru mumbled, downing the drink that filled up his glass. "Can we get another bottle of this … whatever this was, it's empty now. Real good stuff, though."

"Easy now, buddy. You don't want to vomit all over yourself."

"Fuck that," Shikamaru asked. "Tell me about those two. Did you have a hand in what happened? It can't be a coincidence. They conveniently get into an accident the very night they threaten you. And this bar, do you own this place or something? How are you being so extravagant? I know for a fact that these bottles are way out of your usual spending range."

"Why don't you tell me why you ordered Mirai to let the daimyo's son get captured?" Naruto asked back, making Shikamaru frown. "She is a very competent jōnin and would never slip up so massively without explicit orders."

"I asked first."

"I don't care."

Shikamaru growled before letting out a light burp, "Konoha saved his son from the fearsome Mujina bandits, especially that corpse eater guy. He knows that he is indebted to us. To your son and disciple specifically. And, by extension, you. That's why we have free reign over who becomes his proxy instead of him just sending someone over to act in his stead."

"You went a bit too far with it, Shikamaru. Letting an innocent kid get embroiled in the situation," Naruto said.

"He was going to be fine," He said. "I was on standby the whole time to interfere in case Team 7 messed up. That situation was the only reason that we now have the choice to put someone trustworthy in a place of power."

"Do you have someone other than Tsunade in mind?" Naruto asked.

"No, she would actually be perfect. As long as you are able to entrap her without her realizing her situation," Shikamaru looked at Naruto. "It all depends on whether you can convince her or not. She already hates the concept of the civilian council that the Third agreed upon. Plus, she also has the necessary credibility to sit in such an important position. She will be the perfect ally for us."

"I'll see what I can do."

"About Suna," Shikamaru jumped to the next important topic.

***

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