Getting Lost on the Roads of Life - a KakaSaku Story [CONCLUDED]

New Beginnings

Bam, the door was slammed shut with authoritative force after the exiting Fire Daimyo and his extensive entourage, dangerously shaking the pictures of the previous Hokages on the wall of Konoha's most illustrious meeting room.

"Congratulations, Rokudaime Hokage," Tsunade chuckled. "Confirmed with a bam!"

"Please spare me," Kakashi murmured, rubbing his face with both hands in a futile attempt to lessen his tension headache. "Until I'm officially inaugurated. Please."

"I'll try to restrain myself," Tsunade grinned, "but you know how I feel. I'm going to get so incredibly drunk tonight in celebration of my freedom, you cannot even imagine. I'd invite you but... you look like death warmed over, you should rest," she added, a bit more considerate.

"Hokage-sama, we take our leave," Shikamaru saluted.

He was the newly elected Jōnin Commander and hadn't made up his mind yet whether he should be extremely annoyed by the additional responsibility the position entailed or rather honored by the title his late father had held before him.

"He's talking to you," Tsunade said into the ensuing silence and elbowed Kakashi into the ribs.

Kakashi looked up with a tortured frown. Okay, it was official: Hearing that title gave him acid reflux. He was not ready. Not. Ready.

"I wasn't!" Shikamaru protested, pulling a face and shaking his head at Kakashi in sympathy.

"Until all the formalities for the succession are done, you remain the acting Hokage, Slug Princess," the Head of Konoha's Council said coldly and pushed back her chair. "Behave like one."

Mrs. Nohara was dressed in a simple, ankle length grey dress that should probably signal her humility, but everybody who had just attended the meeting now knew first hand who the true authority in the Land of Fire was.

The Fire Daimyo was eating out of her hands, it had been outright embarrassing to witness.

Shizune with her great talent for unravelling secrets had been able to find out the reason earlier today. Their political leader had no official heirs. But apparently, he had an illegitimate son whom he hoped to position as his successor, much against his nephew's will, who was the next in line by law. The current Fire Daimyo hoped to succeed anyway - with the Nohara family's backing. It was mind-boggling to Kakashi just how influential and rich the Nohara family truly was, it seemed they owned half the continent. It was equally mind-boggling how ignorant he had been about that until now.

Why exactly the eldest sibling of that family chose to live her life here in Konoha as head of the orphanage instead of dwelling in the capital like her brothers was unclear. It might have something to do with Rin's father whose identity was unknown, but that was just guesswork. And what all of this had to do with him, Kakashi could not even begin to understand. That Mrs Nohara had been so eager to have him become Hokage gave him cold shivers. It was like he had become her puppet the moment he had agreed to the office but wasn't able to hear the tune she had him dance to.

Kakashi shuddered. What a nightmare.

"Thank you for bringing back my daughter," Mrs. Nohara made a point to say, looking him straight in the eye and managing to look sincere too, "it is much more than I hoped for."

As if anybody under the sun would not have done the same.

"I need to talk to her," Kakashi told Mrs. Nohara bluntly.

She had appeared in Tsunade's office with five bodyguards not ten minutes after Kakashi had reported back yesterday. Rin had looked at her mother with a mixture of hatred and defeat but had followed her with no resistance and without speaking a single word. She had still been very weak and because he had not seen her oder heard from her since, Kakashi was worried.