So, what are your thoughts on a business savvy, ninja trained, merchant!Sakura? Obviously it won't happen in the fic, but how does the idea make you feel?
BAMF!Business savvy Sakura
My thoughts are it’s a great idea! A few days ago I just so happened to come up with a story just like what you’ve described:
When Tsunade dies in the middle of a war, neither Kakashi nor Naruto can take the hokage position because they’re too important at the front lines (Sasuke’s still gallivanting about after Itachi) and the same goes for Shikaku’s role as Jonin commander, Inoichi’s too important at T&I, etc. Somehow, Sakura ends up getting the job as a temporary replacement, if only because she used to spend so much time helping Tsunade with her paperwork before her passing. Severely depressed she may be, but everyone realizes that Haruno Sakura already knows all the ins and outs of ‘hokagedom’ – and her attempts at showing anyone else the ropes just lead to confusion and wasted time. (“What a drag… why don’t you just pick her if she already knows all this stuff?”) As time is a precious commodity in the midsts of war and right after the assassination of a kage, Sakura gets shoved into the position, much to the rest of the village’s chagrin. They all basically think she’s just a useless figurehead, a temporary replacement who can’t even fight well but will do for now.
…except then she actually starts getting serious about things. Within a few weeks of foming into office, Sakura finds the nidaime’s old renovation plans that he never got around to finishing before he got killed, right along with his more obscure research notes. She begins to put these plans into action (with some modifications and updates of course, but still, the man was brilliant and she’ll be damned if she too, were to ignore his brainchildren). Tentatively, she dips her toes into the field of jutsu creation and fuinjutsu. She begins to devour his notes like a woman starving. She figures out the truth of the Uchiha massacre. As it happens, no once can refuse her now when she asks for extra training, no matter in which area. Sakura is the hokage, after all. But that’s not even the half of what she does. She begins researching more deeply into various topics, she puts all her family-acquired knowledge on business managing and marketing to good use. She starts changing things…
…and hell does it make an impact. For the first time since probably the nidaime, Konoha actually has a kage that not only does her paperwork but is also good at it. They have a kage who actually knows how to make a business work. They have a kage who both understands the shinobi’s perspective but also knows what needs to be done on the civilian side of things… THEY HAVE A BAMF!Paper ninja kage and it’s freaking terrifying.
Konoha’s GDP shoots through the roof. The Academy curriculum gets expanded drastically and in direct correlation with an exponential improvement in civilian kids’ performance. Shinobi businesses’ marketing strategies go through some very large modifications. The public budgets grows like it’s nobodies buseiness after Sakura buys the production rights for a specific type of plant that just so happens to be the key for a new invention of hers that revolutionises various fields. Hospital staff quality increases. A certain Itachi Uchiha gets tracked down and hauled back to Konoha right under everyone’s noses (without them none the wiser), courtesy of the newly unearthed hiraishin. The hokage’s ANBU guard slowly but surely develops an unwavering sense of loyalty and respect toward their new superior. In that vein, certain weeds get upRooted and taken care of once and for all… This time, neither Shikaku nor Inoichi end up dying tragically as casualties of war. In short, a lot of things change.
Basically Sakura turns the village into the most efficient Konoha of its history. Naturally, all the people who never believed in her suddenly feel very good about themselves and their choice of hokage and those who actually knew Sakura are left gaping, wondering what the hell happened.
So not sure whether I’ll actually write the story down but to answer your question: yes, I very much like the idea of a business savvy Sakura (who happens to be hokage).