Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or any of the characters. The following is a work of fiction that I do own on the other hand.
A/N: This stands as a kind of prologue to the rest of the story, wrapping up loose ends in the manga so I can do what I want with the story. Spoilers up to 477. Looking for a beta reader - if anyone is interested message me.
Sap. Smelled like pine sap. A sweet, earthy scent that reminded him of home. Konoha's forests, the smell of your hands after collecting kunai from target practice. The insufferable task of getting the stuff off the kunai and subsequently off of your hands.
Sasuke. He had been worrying about Sasuke. Sakura had come to talk to him, she had... confessed? Lied? Both. He opened his eyes slowly, to grasp his situation. Ero-sennin had always told him to fake sleep until he had a handle on his condition and placement. He had gotten pretty good at faking unconsciousness; it went along with the whole commonly passing out during training thing.
He was being carried. Yamato had him on his back as he leaped through the trees. Slowly it came back to him. He had hyperventilated, passed out. Pathetic. When a hard decision comes along, here comes Naruto to run away from making a decision by passing out. What kind of shinobi, or rather, what kind of friend passed out when he was needed most? He stirred and Yamato came to a stop along a larger branch.
"Yamato? I'm up. Thanks for the lift." He flashed a smile, a fake one, but one to disarm the worried face Yamato was making.
"I'm alright for now, don't worry." He shrugged his shoulders as he landed on his feet and tried to pop the stiffness out of his neck.
"You sure? If you're good we need to hurry back to Konoha. We've got to relay what Gaara told us and makes some plans" Right: Madara's plan, Danzo's power play, and Sasuke's idiotic head-on assault. Naruto gave a nod and followed in line behind Yamato, working out the details in his head as his feet mindlessly worked their way from branch to branch.
He still wasn't strong enough. Sasuke had thrown himself into the midst of five kages and walked out alive and he wasn't sure he could do the same. In fact, he was pretty sure he couldn't. That meant one of two things: Either he still hadn't caught up to Sasuke or Sasuke was just lucky as hell. He didn't want to bet on it being the latter.
Strength wasn't the issue here though. Madara had told him that Sasuke was a true avenger. He thrived on the darkness in his life, living in the depths of it only to blame the cause on his latest target. It gave him strength of will, strength to attack without regret, and a target to throw all of his hate onto. It didn't even matter who the target was anymore. As of now it was Danzo, the elders, but before long it would be Konoha, really anyone who had a life Sasuke could never have. By living happily they implicitly denied Sasuke what he so badly wanted and what he thought he could never have. A loop of self-destruction and hate.
Naruto had no idea what to do. How do you save someone from their own self-hatred and jealousy. If a man had no bonds because he hated them, then thinking he himself held any special place with that man because once upon a time he had seemed ridiculous. Sasuke was cut off from the world, cut off because he couldn't find happiness in those bonds anymore.
Sakura had made her decision. A mad dog had to be put down, no matter how much you loved it. It just seemed so... so wrong. To give up hope, to treat Sasuke just as a mess that had to be cleaned up because they thought they couldn't put him back together again. There had to be some way, some path to take to just bring him back, to just pull him out of that loop of hatred...
"Silence doesn't suit you, you know?" Naruto glanced up at Yamato, broken out of his thoughts. "You'll hurt yourself if you think too much. Just look what happened earlier." A joke. He was trying to cheer him up and so Naruto played along. A laugh. A smile.
"I know, I know. It's just so much to take in right now. You think Kakashi will find Sakura in time?" Deflection from the issue. Naruto was a master of redirecting conversation when he didn't want to talk. When you act as if you're brain changes topics a mile a minute then people are more apt to accept that the conversation will too. His shortcomings were tools too.
"He will. Besides, right now I don't think Sasuke would fight with her, or rather, I don't think Madara would let him. Gaara mentioned that he was pretty torn up after his little scuffle with the Kages." That made sense. Madara wanted Sasuke to fight him in the end anyway. Probably out of some self delusion that it would finally prove that the elder son of the Rikudou sage was the better. Who the hell knew what was going on in that swirly head. Maybe he just thought it would be interesting.
"I guess you're right. I'll have to deal with them when they come back. Not looking forward to that." That was the truth. Sakura felt justified in her decision to kill Sasuke, and it would be hard to convince her otherwise. He was finding it hard to convince himself otherwise.
"Don't worry about it, it'll work out in the end. Sakura just hasn't thought the issue through." Yamato was always concerned about how he felt. It was nice of him to try to lie to make him feel better.
"I'm sure you're right." Silence fell over the pair again as they hurried back to Konoha. The thud of sandals against wood was the only music Naruto had to narrate his thoughts to.
Shikamaru shivered as he lit a cigarette outside the command tent. Night had brought a cool breeze down from the north and he hadn't been home to pick up clothes since the reconstruction began. If his home was still there.
"Shit, can't enjoy a cigarette when you're shivering from the cold." Asuma would always say the same thing whenever they were around a fire while out on a mission. He always thought he was just complaining, making conversation. Now he knew it was really true.
Footsteps grabbed his attention as they came around the corner of the tent. Yamato and Naruto. No Kakashi. No Sakura. Interesting, but troublesome.
"Shikamaru, looking more and more like a delinquent every time I see you." Naruto flashed him a strained smile. Not a good sign.
"I'll meet you inside Yamato, then we can debrief. I need to talk to Shikamaru here for a minute." A serious face from Naruto. Things were just getting worse and worse. Yamato nodded approval and slipped past the entrance.
"That's new. What do you need to talk to me alone about?" Naruto walked over to him and shifted his hands behind his head, looking up at the moon. He scrambled a bit for words, starting slowly.
"You know, Sakura confessed to me." Surprising. "She was lying, but it feels good to get two confessions within such a short time." Two? A good guess was Hinata. "But now's not the time for these kinds of things you know. Not when we're deciding to hunt down one of our own." So he had heard. Shikamaru took a drag of his cigarette to give himself time to think.
"It's the right decision. We have to do something about Sasuke or risk a war because of his stupidity." Throw out a bit of reasoning for him, see how he responds. Conversations were never really conversations for Shikamaru anymore. They were just a bartering of information. Give some, take some, steal some from responses.
"I know. He royally fucked up this time. Attacked the five kages in the summit. Lived, but still, stupid." That was stupid. Stupid enough that it didn't sound like the Sasuke he knew. Unless there was revenge or power involved.
"That doesn't seem like him." Naruto sighed.
"He doesn't seem like him anymore. He just hates now and the Sasuke we knew might have been swallowed up by that hate." Interesting. Poetic language from Naruto. Or maybe that was just how he understood it.
"Uchiha Madara is behind it all you know. Pulled Sasuke out of there, told me it was fated that Sasuke and I would fight." Madara? The historical Madara? That didn't seem possible, but of course, most of Akatsuki didn't seem possible.
"If anyone could take him down now it would be you. The responsibility might very well fall on your shoulders in the end." Naruto's brow furrowed. Here was the issue.
"I know... but I just can't... I don't know if I can do it. I know things about him, about why he hates, about why he's doing what he's doing, and even though I can't see a way to save him I just can't push myself to kill him. I can't kill him just because I'm not good enough to save him." Naruto would find a way to blame himself for not being able to save a friend gone bad.
"If the time comes, you'll do it. You'll do it because you have to. You'll do it because you'll realize the future of Konoha is riding on your shoulders. You're killing one friend to save so many others, to save all the children of Konoha, to save a future we can't begin to fully imagine." Good, his shoulders dropped a bit. It meant that he was beginning to accept the decision and the stress on himself was letting up.
"Let's get you in to debrief. I need to know all the information so we can get to work on making a plan." Naruto gave him a nod and followed him into the tent.
"Pakkun?" The small dog shifted it's head back to Kakashi in acknowledgment.
"Close now. Sakura's right up here. I'm picking up Danzo and Sasuke too. Weak though." Danzo? Did that mean that Sasuke was after his vengeance, or that Danzo was after a sharingan? Maybe both. He couldn't let Sakura catch up to them. As much as he hated to admit it, if she got caught up in the middle of those two she wouldn't fair well at all.
"Let's speed it up to cut off Sakura. Hopefully Danzo and Sasuke are done by now, and hopefully Sasuke won. I would prefer not to deal with Danzo myself back in Konoha." Pakkun turned back to the path, nose to the ground and bound off as he picked up the scent.
The pair cut through the trees on the side of the path, quickly opening up into a clearing. Some sort of bridge came into sight, now missing chunks of stone. The air still held the smell of ozone, a clear sign of lightning jutsu. Sakura sat in the middle of the bridge with Kiba behind her, Sai on the edge with feet hanging off of the side, drawing, while Lee looking around the site for any remnants. He wouldn't find anything.
Good. It meant that they had lost Sasuke. That made his job easier at least. He came to a stop beside Sakura, laying a hand on her shoulder.
"Lost him, huh?" Sakura turned her head, eyes full of tears and guilt. She couldn't have been here long.
"So you knew? ...Of course you knew. That means Naruto knows too." Kakashi nodded as Sakura stood up and dusted herself off. Sai packed up his supplies and walked over to Kakashi.
"He was here." If Sai didn't say a name, that meant Danzo. If Sai meant Danzo, then he still couldn't say his name. That meant he was still alive. Fantastic.
"Well, you guys did what you could. Whether or not that was the right choice. If Danzo is still alive I imagine their battle didn't finish. Madara wouldn't let Sasuke die at this point." Sakura grimaced at the mention of Sasuke's death. Naruto was right. She still loved him and she hated herself for it.
"C'mon. Get your stuff together and we'll head back to Konoha. I guess I'm acting Hokage now so I need to be back to prepare for the war." Kami, another war. He was getting old, living into his second war. He didn't even want to imagine the decisions that lay ahead of him.
The makeshift team regrouped, seemingly dead. Sakura was emotionally drained from preparing herself to kill Sasuke and then failing to even find him. Kiba was annoyed at the whole mission but kept silent out of respect for Sakura, and Lee was still in his own world after Sakura's confession to Naruto. Sai was... well, Sai. At least the trip back would be quiet.
Naruto leaned back on the stone head of his father, taking in a deep breath as he stared up at the stars. He couldn't look down at Konoha. Every time he did he just saw the destruction, his failure. It hurt too much. Gamakichi gave him a worried look. Naruto hadn't said a word since he summoned him up here.
"You know, it's times like these that drinking was invented for." Naruto rolled onto his side to look at Gamakichi, one eyebrow raised. Gamakichi only smiled, as best a toad could.
"I'm just saying, I got some stuff from Myobokuzan and you never did complete the toad contract with a drink with dad. I can take his place you know, and it'll let some of that tension out. Moon-viewing and all. A toad tradition." Truth be told Gamakichi had just recently passed the legal age of drinking for toads. It was more of a rite of passage there, a sign of adulthood. Hell, if Naruto couldn't be seen as an adult now he didn't know who could.
"You know, some people might see this as corrupting the youth." Naruto sat up and smiled at Gamakichi. "But then again I hear it's pretty hard to convict toads under Konoha law, so I think you'll be safe." Gamakichi croaked out a laugh and unlatched the gourd from his belt. Good advice from dad to always carry a supply around. Naruto caught the gourd and pulled out the cork in the top, taking a whiff of the drink before tasting.
"Kami, what is this?" Special toad brew. Made from rice, flavored with grubs. Naruto didn't need to know the last part. Made to get Toads drunk, so it was a bit strong for humans. After all the average toad weighed a good three or four times as much as a person. And then those in Dad's class, he didn't even want to think about the stuff they drank.
"All you need to know is that it's good." Naruto scoffed and then took a long drink, almost coughing it up immediately afterwards.
"Burns." More coughing. "You could have given me a warning or something."
"Warnings aren't any good. It's something you have to try yourself. Besides, it's always funny to watch someone take their first drink." Now for the next part of the ritual. Get Naruto drunk enough so that he would be pushing it all back out later in the night. It was good for a first timer to learn their limits early on. Plus the hangover would distract him from his thoughts tomorrow. The joys of being a responsible adult.
Hinata always enjoyed moonlit nights. They helped her relax, distracted her from her worries. It probably had something to do with her mother. She could vaguely remember taking walks at night with her mother before Hanabi was born, with her mother singing to her as they walked through the Hyuuga gardens. She couldn't remember the song, or even the tune, but just the soothing feeling that would wash over her as she held her mother's hand and focused so hard on trying not to trip over rocks in the dark. This also meant that she was unnaturally aware of rocks during night walks but she guessed that wasn't such a bad thing.
Her chest still hurt a bit from the injury she had sustained from Pain. It had healed nicely leaving just a small round scar, but it would be a few days before she would be back up to speed. Physically anyway. Remembering what she had said to Naruto still brought a blush to her face, but in some ways it was a relief to have said it. No longer did she have to worry that it was her fault nothing was happening. She had made her move and could only wait now to see what he said in response. It was a liberating feeling in many ways.
It was also scary as hell. It had been a few days now and she hadn't caught a glimpse of Naruto, much less heard anything from him. That was to be expected though, after he had saved the village from Pain. More and more he was becoming what she knew he always would be and more and more that separated her from him, stole him out of her grasp. He was becoming a hero to the people and while he was always a hero to her, it meant her relationship to him was less special. Every time she pushed herself further, he would advance too. Achilles and the Tortoise, so to speak. It just seemed like he was so far out of reach now.
"Atta boy, get it all up now." A throaty voice and the distinct sound of vomiting dragged her attention away. Who would be drinking at this time of night, especially when things were in such shambles?
"Kami Gamakichi, I'm neeeveer eveeer letting you tricks me into drinking again." Naruto? He was the one? That just... well, it was surprising to say the least.
"Well it is made for Toads y'know and we are kind of a bit bigger than you. 'Sides, I didn't tell you to go downing such huge drinks." That sounded like Naruto. If he was going to do anything he was going to do it with fervor.
"Pfffft. Yeah, whatever. These are informations I should have been privy to beforehands." Hinata was beginning to be able to put the pieces together. She might as well make herself known to them. It was now or never.
"Naruto, is that you?" Hinata stepped around the corner and saw Naruto propping himself up against a wall and his summon walking beside him, just within arms reach. He had probably been acting as a crutch as they were walking.
"Hinata? Yeah I guess it's me. What are you doing out at this time of night?" His eyes showed concern underneath a haze of drunkenness.
"I, uh, was just out taking a walk." It almost seemed like she wasn't talking to Naruto while he was drunk. It toned down his personality a bit and made him a bit easier for her to handle without getting too nervous. Small miracles.
"Oh, really? That sounds nice." He stumbled a bit as he tried to right himself from the wall. "Sorry you had to see me like this and all." Beyond the initial shock, she didn't really mind. She knew he wasn't one to run away from responsibility and that he had a lot of stress on him. Anyone else she might have judged badly, but she knew Naruto wasn't doing this just to goof off.
"Don't worry about that, it's actually kind of nice. Humanizes you a bit." Naruto's brow furrowed, his emotions even more clearly showing on his face in his state. He was confused at her comment.
"What do you mean Hinata? I'm just as human as the rest o'ya." Oddly enough, he seemed somewhat perturbed now.
"Sorry, I didn't mean any harm. It's just you're almost a hero now. People idolize you for taking on Pain and it's just nice to see a side of you others don't." The anger disappeared only to be replaced by more confusion. Gamakichi caught him as he stumbled a bit, but quickly righted him and gave Hinata a wink.
"Well, I think he's alright for now. Would you mind taking him to a bed somewhere Hinata?" She blushed, catching what his wink meant now. She didn't know if she could handle a walk back with a drunken Naruto. She didn't get a choice though as Gamakichi unsummoned himself and left her alone with him.
"Hinata, I ain't no hero. That's for sure. I'm just a person who can't save his friend, who let down his sensei, who has impossible goals, and is a disappointment to his father. I'm just another guy who doesn't know what to do with his life." She caught his arm as he swayed, blushing a bit as she helped him walk now that Gamakichi was gone. Father?
"That doesn't sound like the Naruto I know at all. The Naruto I know wouldn't be giving up even if things looked dire. He also wouldn't giving up on his promises, now would he?" Naruto looked over at Hinata, giving a weak smile as he trudged along.
"I don't know if that Naruto is around anymore. Unfortunately, the world doesn't work out in the ways 12 year old boys think it will." He was right but that shouldn't stop him.
"Then you just have to make the world the way 12 year old boys see it, now won't you? If anyone can do it, you can Naruto-kun." He glanced away, thinking. Slowly, he began talking again.
"I... I guess so. It's something to think about. I just don't know how to save Sasuke anymore, save him from himself. Save people from hating each other. Ero-sennin thought it could be done, but he's gone now. Dad thought it could be done, but that just ended up getting him killed and unknowingly putting all of the hate on his kid. There's no easy answer here." More talk of his father. Who could that be, and what did Naruto mean when he said he got all of the hate?
"Give it time Naruto-kun, and you'll find an answer. You change people with the strength of your beliefs, without even knowing it. You changed Neji after the exam, and you changed... you changed me too. Just by being who you are you helped me become a better person." Confusion again, but some sort of acceptance too. That was good.
"Really?"
"Really Naruto-kun. Without you Neji would still hate our family and I would still be hiding behind my own insecurities." She wasn't quite sure where she found the courage to say these things. Maybe it was the pure need she saw in Naruto's eyes for support. She would give anything for him. They came to a stop in font of one of the make shift barracks. Naruto shifted himself, letting go of Hinata's arm as he prepared to go inside. Lifting the flap of the tent he turned around to face her.
"Thanks Hinata. You've always been there to help me when I need it and I can't thank you enough for that. You help everyone, and I really like that about you." He smiled at her as she blushed and slipped inside the tent. The heat from his hand on her arm slowly dissipated until she found herself again. A slow smile crept onto her face as she turned to walk back to the compound.
Kakashi made it back into the village, dead tired from the rushed journey back. He hadn't slept in something like 36 hours now, but he was finally back. And now he had to deal with the duties of an acting Hokage. Sleep would have to wait.
Sakura and the team filed in behind him, still silent, but now more from fatigue than emotional shock. At least they could get some sleep now.
"Sakura, take everyone to get some sleep. Check back in with me in say, about 6 hours, and I'll get you up to speed." She nodded and walked off to the nearest sleeping quarters. That gave Kakashi some time to figure out what to do with her and some time to handle the situation with Naruto. Naruto wouldn't like what he had planned for him, but it had to be done and he was the only one who could do it at this point. Plus it would keep him safe.
Kakashi walked into the command tent, bustling with the morning shift change. That was good at least, meant that he would have some fresh minds to make up for his own fatigue. The joy's of leadership: you can take other people's ideas and claim them as your own because in the end the responsibility lies with you.
"Alright everyone, I am now acting Hokage." Best to be blunt. A few raised eyebrows. "Danzo made some bad decisions at the summit, namely attacking some of the other countries and unfairly coercing the neutral party that has led me to believe he is unfit for duty. Suna has made it clear that they will only acknowledge me as Hokage for now, and I have been led to understood that is the same for the other major villages." Shikaku smiled a bit. "I need to be brought all new information since I was last here and I'm sure Yamato has caught the rest of you up on the events at the summit. As of now we are part of an alliance with the four other major villages against Madara's and Akatsuki's forces, whatever those might be." The others in the room scrambled to assemble reports that had come in over the last few days. Kakashi signaled Yamato, who came over immediately.
"I need you to find Naruto and bring him here. I've got a mission for him." Yamato nodded and headed out of the tent. Shikaku came over to Kakashi, smirking a bit.
"I figured something like this would happen. Danzo was always out to pull something stupid." Kakashi sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
"I just wish there were someone else to take over for now. I don't want to deal with this. I never was one for the whole responsibility deal." Shikaku laughed a bit.
"Well the best leaders were always the ones who didn't want the power given to them. It's good to have you in charge." A pat on the back. That was likely to be all the support he would get, but in the end he didn't really want more. He was doing this because he had to, not because he wanted approval.
"Naruto" Pain. Blaring Pain.
"Oh sweet Kami, what the hell is going on in my head." Naruto's mouth tasted like vomit and battery acid. Gamakichi was going to get it for this one.
"Get up. Kakashi has a mission for you." Greeeaaat. Just what he needed right now.
"I'm up, I'm up. Just give me a minute to not throw up all over the floor." Yamato seemed surprised, then his face softened into understanding.
"Alcohol probably wasn't the best choice to make, but it does help sometimes." He rummaged around in his pack. "Take a soldier pill. The nutrients will perk you up and the adrenaline will help get it out of your system faster." Naruto popped it into his mouth, letting the chalky taste overwhelm his taste buds. Anything was better than vomit. He pushed himself off of the cot, swaying a bit as he found his balance.
"Any idea what this is about?" A mission so soon seemed unusual, especially with Kakashi just coming into power. Maybe he wanted him to kill Danzo or secure Root or something ridiculous. He knew Kakashi wouldn't trust him with those types of missions though, not when he had ANBU he knew could handle assassinations and he trusted from his time as captain.
"Not sure. He just got back himself and asked for you immediately. He must have thought of something that had to be done on the way back." That didn't sound like much fun.
"Sakura?" A question he already knew the answer to. Kakashi wouldn't be back if she wasn't.
"Asleep by now probably. Kakashi sent her to get some rest after they made it back. He sent me off before he gave me any news but I saw Kiba on my way over here." That made sense. Kakashi must be pretty tired too. What did that mean about the Sasuke situation? No injuries, so that most likely meant no confrontation.
"Guess we'll see, won't we?" Yamato pushed his way into the command tent and Naruto followed him closely. Kakashi was propped up in the corner, half asleep in a chair surrounded by reports.
"Kakashi-sensei? Or should I say Hokage-sama now?" There was a joke in there somewhere, but Naruto's head hurt to much to think of one right now. Kakashi sat up straight in his chair, stirring himself awake.
"Kakashi-sensei's fine. I'm not Hokage yet and hopefully won't have to be. Tsunade may still wake up." That would be nice but dreams only got you so far. "Anyway, I've got a mission for you Naruto. An important one for Konoha." That sounded long.
"Did they find Sasuke?" Kakashi shook his head.
"No he was gone when they got there. Madara probably whisked him off like he did at the summit. Danzo's scent was gone too, but I don't know what that means for him. Sai tells me he's still alive." That was unfortunate. It would come back later to bite them, Naruto was sure of that.
"About this mission?" Neither of the two really seemed up for normal conversation right now. It was a talk between the dead.
"I've gathered all the information I could about Jiraiya's old information network. I'm sure you met some of the informants when you traveled with him?" Scratch that. It sounded very long.
"Yeah, I've met a few of them." Kakashi nodded, shifting over to grab a thickly bound file which he promptly threw over to Naruto.
"A rank mission then. I need you to reestablish the connections you can and keep me updated. With Tsunade down we have a complete shift over on any means of gathering information. Danzo may have been a bad person but he could get information. Now we have none." Rebuilding a spy network from the ground up. That was a definitely a mission.
"How long do I have?" It would take him at least 6 months to walk a circuit around the fringe of the network, more to try and find the informants along the way.
"As long as you need, sadly. I'd say take at least a year. We need to rebuild and this war won't start tomorrow. Madara has a much smaller force when compared to the five major villages. It means this is going to be a guerrilla war and there won't be any major moves for a long time." That made sense and sadly it meant a lot of deaths with little ground gained.
"He's going to hit patrols hard and fast and try to cause strife between the villages. The only chance he has of grabbing you and the eight tails is if the villages start to squabble. I imagine he has forces in Grass and Rain, and now that he has Sasuke he probably has access to some remnants of Sound as well. It won't be pretty." All three of those country's forces were spread out and hard to put a number on. They were fighting with an unknown force.
"I figure the best way to keep you safe then is to keep you moving. Konoha needs rebuilding and won't have stable defenses for months. If Madara is smart, which he is, he would come and try to grab you here soon." He was always out of the village. Always outside unable to do anything for the people he cared for. All because he was such a danger, because he wasn't strong enough.
"I want you to leave tonight and keep in contact through frogs. Keep low and train on the way. Keep in contact with Fukasaku. No one will know better how to train you then him. Ask him to get you up to date on seals and senjutsu, and work on extending your sage chakra. Keep the Kyuubi use down to a minimum as well, as it'll send out a flare to Madara whenever you use it." It wasn't like he planned to use the fur ball anyway, but it all made sense. Kakashi looked him in the eyes and he had never seen the man look more tired, not only physically but world weary.
"I'm sorry to do this to you, I really am. We need the information, we need you safe, and we need you stronger. Keep in mind the kage bunshin trick and keep moving. You'll be fine. I'll send information your way on Sasuke's movements, but I imagine he'll need some time to heal and regroup. He lost some of his group and he's realized that he couldn't beat Danzo. He'll take time to heal and train." And that gave Naruto time to think and figure out what he needed to do.
"I got it. I'll leave immediately and I'll make it quiet." He had to. He needed the time to get away from Konoha before Madara would make a move. "Tell Sakura not to worry and that I'll figure something out, and... tell Hinata thank you, and I'm sorry for leaving her without a response. That's something I'll have to figure out along the way." Kakashi just nodded, too tired now to worry about putting pieces together. "And thanks Kakashi-sensei. I'll do you and Ero-sennin proud. Don't get too comfortable with being Hokage, because I'll be back soon enough." Naruto flashed a brilliant smile and walked out of the tent.