This is a very short chapter. To me, it didn't fit in with Chapter 3 so I made it's own, even though it's so short and might seem silly to put on it's own.

Again, apologies if explanations and detail are still lacking. I hope as a whole it seems to fit together well, but as always I am paranoid and fretful.

Thanks for reading! :D

It took 2 days travel to get back to Konoha.

Tsunade nodded to them all, dismissing them from her office with a weeks worth of leave. She didn't let Kakashi go, though.

"Kakashi," she called to him as he was about to walk out the door.

He turned, "Yes, Tsunade-sama?"

Tsunade noticed Ikumi look back just as the door closed. "I'm sorry for the repercussions of our decision," she spoke empathetically. She had taken in Ikumi and Naruto's sullen demeanor and deduced they were upset.

He hung his head as he walked back to stand at the head of her desk.

"I tried to stop Naruto from going, but I knew I wouldn't be able too," Tsunade confessed. "And once he knew where you were, and when Ikumi found out... I feel both of us have fallen from our posts in their hearts," she sounded pained to think that was true.

Tsunade revered Ikumi very highly. Back when Ikumi and Kakashi were on Team Minato, Ikumi had wanted to distance herself from her pre-destined powers of Uchiha and Hyuga, asking The Third if there was anyone that could teach her medical ninjutsu to better assist her sensei and teammates. It was implemented in most teams at that time, per Tsunade's heartfelt pleas to the Council, for every ninja team to be assigned one medical nin.

She had been assigned to Minato for mentoring, despite her not being a medical ninja, due to her status between both Uchiha and Hyuga clans.

The Third in turn asked Tsunade to take Ikumi as a student. Ikumi excelled at medical ninjutsu, becoming efficient in a skill on her own with her own talent as a kunoichi of the Hidden Leaf.

Tsunade sighed at the memory. It hurt her to see how much their actions had affected both Ikumi and Naruto. Their care and love for Kakashi ran deep. She had known it, but hoped somehow they would accept her and Kakashi's decision.

Emotions in the ninja world were a fickle thing. They either meant nothing, or everything.

"I agree," he admitted. He felt the heavy sinking-feeling in his chest and sighed, "I don't feel as if I am being punished, I just... I don't know how to fix it."

Tsunade felt for Kakashi, knowing him to be of impeccable intelligence and calculatingly cunning. But she also knew he was kind of heart.

"Do you love her?" she asked.

He met her eyes with his one revealed eye. It startled him to hear the question. But it made him realize he hadn't said anything to Ikumi about it at all. She had bared her heart to him, but her confession was left one-sided. Realizing that made him feel like even more of a jerk as he stood there, Tsunade's question hanging in the air.

"I never thought it was possible," he began. He crossed his arms under his chest and looked out of the window passed Tsunade. "I never thought it was something I could have, living the life of a shinobi. A life I have chosen and have no regrets of leading... love just seemed like something that would interfere. So I never pursued it, I suppose."

Tsunade chuckled. "Kakashi."

He looked at her again.

"Do you love her?"

The smile on Tsunade's face made him smile. He immediately imagined Ikumi's beautiful face, her gleaming smile smiling back at him...

He'd known Ikumi since the age of five. They had been on hundreds of missions together, as well as having worked in the ANBU Black Ops for a few years at the same time. In all of the death, despair, triumphs and failures in his life, Ikumi had always been there, awaiting his return with a welcome hand and heart.

Thinking back on every moment spent with her, he let himself feel how much he cared for her and realized how much that really was.

"I do," he answered. "I do very much."

Tsunade's smile grew. "Then the answer to your dilemma is simple, isn't it?"

"Hmm," Kakashi smiled to himself, "I suppose it is."

She scooted back up to her desk, picking up her writing brush and going back to her previous task. "Very well then. You're dismissed, Kakashi."

He bowed his head before vanishing.