The Jinchuuriki's Brother

Academy Chapter 8: Meeting the Legendary Sucker

"Talking"

'Thinking'

Jutsu/ Bijuu/ Summons

Flashbacks, Letters, and Setting

I don't own Naruto

Chapter 12: Meeting the Legendary Sucker

At the Hokage's Office

Sarutobi Hiruzen was tired, having been hard at work for hours, staying up all night. He looked down at the jumble of papers on his desk, covered in plans and ideas he had been trying to work into an edict. The last few years, and especially the last few weeks, had shown him things needed to change in Konoha.

The government in Konoha had been designed with checks and balances, as the Shodaime, Senju Hashirama, tried to include multiple clans into his village's government, and tried to give them a big voice in how things were run. Hashirama didn't want too much power in the hands of one person, lest they become corrupted and go mad with power, and spread different duties to elders, civilian council, and shinobi council.

At first it worked well, as the charisma, respect, and fear Hashirama commanded was enough to hold everything together. Everything was still new, and nobody was established well enough to scheme anything behind the Shodaime's back. The system even worked during the Nidaime's reign, as he was an unparalleled administrator, unmatched in talent ever since. Tobirama came up with most of the institutions in Konoha, both before and after he became Hokage, including the Academy, the Military Police Force, Merchant's Guild, amongst many others. He was also more ruthless than the Shodaime was, and nobody dared to do anything against him either.

Hiruzen had inherited a robust political system when he became the Sandaime, and ran a tight ship in his first term, being a much more youthful and driven leader at the time. By this time however, the systems had been there for a while, and clans and other groups had become firmly established in their respective roles and places. They began exploring loop holes and the like, but Hiruzen was still able to command enough respect and fear for them to stop at merely exploring and testing boundaries.

Konoha was very unified under the Yondaime, as the village was brought together by common enemies during the 3rd Shinobi War. When Minato had become the Yondaime, he was so loved by nearly everyone, that the thought of plotting against him, or going behind his back was close to nil. Throw in his uncanny ability to read people and situations, and his reputation as the deadliest Shinobi at the time, and nobody had even the smallest desire to get on his bad side.

It was mostly following the Kyuubi attack that people began taking advantage of the disorganized state of Konoha. The chaos following was the perfect opening for people to change the status quo, to start pushing the boundaries of their power and influence. The Sandaime was way too busy dealing with the reconstruction, reorganization, and salvaging process, that he wasn't able to keep tabs on all the political intrigue taking place behind his back.

It was at this time that the civilian council began growing their influence, as they played a key role in rebuilding the village, being major components of the economy. They began to have more of a voice beyond their former spheres of influence, and gained more of a voice in village affairs.

The elder council also began to accrue more power for themselves, as Hiruzen gave them more authority and power in an effort to divide the work and responsibilities, and make the reconstruction process more efficient. It worked, but it had an unintended consequence when Danzo became the unofficial leader of the elder council.

Now that the village was in a somewhat more stable position than before, and the recipients of additional power and responsibilities had proven themselves unreliable, Hiruzen decided it was time to take the power back quietly.