Ch289. Teams 2 - politics... yuck

"But..." Shikaku reluctantly started again. There were many faults with Team Seven. So many he wouldn't mind reshuffling all of the teams if it got rid of these incoming problems. "Putting the Kyuubi jinchuuriki, the heir to the Uchiha clan, and the heiress to the Hyuuga clan on one team is..." Shikaku grimaced.

Team Seven was a political team. It wouldn't be bad if there were just two of them, paired with a civilian-born but all three...

People in high positions usually liked to look a bit into the future and if Team Seven was formed like this, there was a high chance they would eventually become friends. Which, in turn, would create a strong political block later on when these kids grow up.

And that's where the problem laid.

Putting together Ino-Shika-Cho was fine. These clans didn't have much ambition other than keeping their current influence. They seldom tried to 'use the system' in order to get a leg up. It was also a known fact these three clans were already allied so putting them together in a team wouldn't create any future problem in the political sphere that wasn't already present.

The same could be said about the Aburame clan. They were simply far too passive for politicians and other clan heads to worry about them. It was a stupid way of thinking because Shikaku still thought the Aburame clan was one of the most dangerous clans in Konoha, both combat-wise and politically, but people simply didn't see it that way. They were too used that the Aburame just stoically sat in their place and wordlessly observed the happenings without much input.

In the team setup Shikaku previously made, he planned to pair Hinata, Kiba, and Shino because of that reason. Shino was the Aburame her. Kiba was an Inuzuka, and they were far too brash and not exactly clever so nobody took them all that seriously. Plus he was not the heir which meant even if he got along with his team, there would be no extremely strong political alliance later on.

The only issue with that setup was Hinata Hyuuga who would almost certainly become a big political figure in the future. Then again, two heirs, where one was from a clan that didn't have that much influence... that was the limit for Shikaku.

But Team Seven as Tsunade envisioned it?

That was a political disaster just waiting to happen.

Sasuke Uchiha, the last loyal Uchiha, the heir to the Uchiha 'clan', might have lost a lot of influence considering his own clan was non-existent anymore but the kid was now a part of the top five wealthiest people in Konoha since every account previously belonging to an Uchiha now belonged to the kid. He also had a clan library full of Jutsu for himself...

Simply put, if Sasuke played his cards right and became at least Elite Jonin... he could one day be a very influential person in Konoha despite lacking the influence of a fully functioning clan.

Shikaku didn't think the Uchiha clan could quickly rise again. It would take at least fifty years for them to be sufficiently recreated and that would only be the case if Sasuke decided to be 'proactive' in that regard. God knew there were many morons in Konoha Council that would like nothing more than Sasuke becoming a sex beast focused on impregnating their daughters. Many would like to have a shot at a portion of the wealth of the kid, after all.

But the Uchiha kid was the least of Shikaku's worries. He was like Kiba... unimportant.

The real problems were Hinata Hyuuga and Naruto Uzumaki. Hinata... in Team Seven, she would have access to two heirs who will, later on, become influential. Coupled with the Hyuuga clan's influence, Shikaku could already see some of the smarter councilmen having a problem with this setup.

As for Naruto... people knew only that he is a jinchuuriki and that he is recognized as a part of the Senju clan.

Being a jinchuuriki, that alone would make him a focus of higher-ups. Shikaku was supremely glad nobody knew the kid was the heir to the Uzumaki clan and the son of the Fourth. How nobody put two and two together, he would never know. But... this stupidity of Konoha's citizens was certainly convenient.

If people found out the real political weight Naruto will one day carry... Shikaku had no doubt they would stop at nothing in order to prevent his placement on the team with Hyuuga princess and Uchiha heir. Together, these three could create a political block that would totally suppress anybody who didn't agree with them.

Shikaku glanced at Tsunade, 'And all three of them are under the tutelage of Anko Mitarashi who is the apprentice to Tsunade.' He inwardly cringed. 'God am I glad that the Nara clan is allied to the Senju clan. If people had any idea what kind of frightening political moves this blond menace is casually throwing around, I wouldn't be surprised if the Konoha's clans tried to pull the Uchiha move on us and all rebelled.' He dryly thought.

Sure, since Tsunade became the Daimyo, the influential people in Konoha lost quite a bit of their pull but Tsunade made sure to leave a lot of influence in their hands to keep them satisfied.

Clans and councilors loved their influence. The formation of a political block that could suppress them to a degree where they wouldn't be able to take a shit without permission was something they would surely take offense at. Yet, Tsunade was seemingly doing exactly that, with no one the wiser.

'Senju, Uzumaki, Uchiha, Hyuuga, Nara, and through my clan, she also gets the Yamanaka and Akimichi... I have no doubt she could get the Aburame clan on board too if she tried.' Shikaku thought with a suppressed shudder at the political web the woman was slowly creating.

"What? Would you like it better if I put Haruno in there instead of Hyuuga?" Tsunade asked with no small measure of sarcasm in her tone, pulling Shikaku out of his thoughts.

His eyebrows instantly furrowed when he heard her question but his real reason was a short choking session as his spit got caught in his throat.

"Hell no!" Shikaku exclaimed as he finally managed to stop choking, "Right now, we are dealing with a political disaster. Swapping Hinata for Haruno is a totally new kind of catastrophe." He snorted, "Now I worry about the reactions of the clan heads and the politicians you so magnanimously allowed to keep their influence. If Haruno was a part of Team Seven, however, I would have to worry about their life expectancy. I will take political worries rather than that any day of the week, you troublesome blonde." He replied indignantly despite knowing he couldn't put Haruno in that team anyway.

Tsunade created many programs for the academy and Haruno Sakura ended in one of them. The girl had superb chakra control but other than that, she was useless. That was mostly because of her naivety and kiddy fantasies but still... She was not cut out to be a kunoichi. Not unless she grew up a bit. Putting her in Team Seven, a team that will undoubtedly be an assault-focused team would have been a seppuku-worthy mistake.

As such, the girl ended up in the medical program, and once she graduated, she would be an apprentice under one of the medic ninjas in Konoha's hospital. She would be in a safe environment, contributing to the village by doing things she had a talent for.

"Thought so." Tsunade smugly said, "In that case, what the heck are you still complaining about? Team Seven will be as I said it will be. Stop trying to change my mind, Shikaku. We," She glanced at the sheepish Yoshino, "all know that you just want to talk me out of it because you are too lazy." She rolled her eyes and gestured at him to continue with the teams before taking a sip from her tea.