i know the last chappy is short and im sorry for that. i planned on making a new chapter for each pov change. but aparently that was not the smartest idea in the tool box. (me???) so heres another! ENJOY AND REVIEW!!!

disclaimer: i dont own naruto...( turns red and twitches.) CRAP!!! :(

Naruto's pov

I had left the forest and Kakashi-sensei. I still don't get why he has to stay in the forest to improve his skills, I thought. Did he tell anybody else other than me? He should have at least told sakura-chan. But I can't tell her now. Sensei told me not to tell anyone. But there is one person I can't talk to about this: the one who's known the entire time.

Knock Knock

"Come in." Fifth Hokage said on the other side of the door. I needed to talk to her about sensei in the forest. I opened the office door and the first thing I saw was the Hokage with her nose in her sake. She looked the same as she did last time I saw her. Her hair was a bleach-blonde color and in her usual pig-tails. The purple diamond-shaped tattoo on her forehead had faded to a slight blue. She finally looked up at me with her chestnut brown eyes. She looked surprised.

"Oh, Naruto! Welcome back!"

"Thanks, Hokage-sama. But there is something more important I need to talk to you about."

"And what would that be?"

"Kakashi-sensei living in the forest for three years."

"What about it?"

"It's ridiculous! What were you thinking, just letting him go like you did!"

"Firstly, it was his decision, not mine. Secondly, I have no control of the decisions he makes. Thirdly, he only did this to excel his abilities and fourthly, he did not want people to think he was killed or captured by an enemy so he told me what he was doing so that would not happen. Got it?!"

"Hokage-sama!!!" someone yelled from the hallway. They were hitting the door so hard I heard it start to crack. Hokage-sama stood up and ran to open the door. "What is it?!" she yelled franticly.

"We heard screams near a gate. We believe it was Sakura Haruno and Hinata Huuga." My heart stopped.

"We need someone to go after the enemy who did this. Who was it?" Tsunade-sama asked.

"W-well, we believe it was…one of the Akatsuki." He said slowly. I really wanted to punch him for that.

"Which one?"

"…"

"Out with it, now!"

"Itachi Uchiha." My heart, once again, stopped but not as long. My hands clenched to fists, nearly breaking my fingers. Sasuke's older brother owes me so many dues. He nearly killed Sasuke and me. He destroyed the entire Uchiha clan. He beat Sasuke to a pulp for being so weak. He said he wasn't worth killing or saving. Though he wants to bring me to the Akatsuki to remove the nine-tailed fox from my life force and use it for their own well-being. But it doesn't matter to me if they succeed. I only was to kill them for what they did to Sasuke. I made a promise to do so, and I intend to keep it.

"Who have volunteered to go after him?" she asked.

"…No one, Lady Hokage." He replied. Tsunade-sama was excessively frustrated. She began to pace, her mind racing for an answer. I was about to make a large step forward. And yet, the propriety of my original plan was so flawed, there was no possible conclusion I could create. Though their screams of terror this man had heard flooded my mind, the only true plan I had recovered was that I had to find them. I could not bear to be standing in the crowd at another bleak funeral.

"I'll go."

I finally opened my mouth to say those very words. The two of them – the man and Lady Hokage – stared at me, appalled and dismayed.

"No, you won't." Tsunade-sama argued. "I won't lead you to your demise."

"Do you really think I'm going to let the one who nearly killed my friend get away?!" I threw at her.

"This is none of your concern, naruto!" she spat.

"Those are MY friends! It has EVERYTHING to do with me!"

"I will not – repeat NOT – let you go after an Akatsuki member! Especially Itachi Uchiha!"

"But-"

"No buts! My decision is final!" she yelled. She gestured me out the door. I felt worthless. I suppose my hopes to save my friends were futile. Though, they might die and it would be my fault. I will be brimming with guilt and blame for the rest of my life. I wasn't going to let this happen. I wasn't about to let the Hokage hold me down from saving my friends.

But what could I do? I'm sixteen. Tsunade's the Fifth Hokage. Itachi's an advanced ninja and an assassin. I would be way out of my league and probably kill myself trying. I guess I had no choice. I had to let it go.

I had left the Hokage office quietly. I made it to my apartment room. When I got there, I sat on my bed in silence. I felt myself sigh, finally. Just as the breeze wisped between my lips, I was not alone.

"So you are going to give up?"

It was Kakashi-sensei, standing in my kitchen. He came back from the forest and yet I wasn't surprised. He would always do that. "What do you mean?" I asked quietly.

"I mean what I am saying: you're giving up." He walked over to me.

"It's not that I'm giving up. I'm just giving in. Lady Tsunade won't let me go after hinata."

"I thought sakura was captured too." He smiled a bit behind his mask.

"She was." Still quietly and sad.

"Then why is hinata more important to you than your childhood love?" giggle giggle

"Because I love her." I gasped and covered my mouth when I realized I had actually said those words. This was also because of a habit my body has. If I'm so sad, I would want to cry, I would start telling the truth without control of myself. Oh, great. Kakashi-sensei was laughing so hard tears welled up in his eyes. I felt like trying to punch a wall…with my head. When sensei stopped laughing, he put his hand on my shoulder and said, "If that is true, then why are you still here?"

I wanted to answer, but all I had to say was, "Hokage told me not to go after them."

"So?" he replied. "Love is stronger than government."

"I guess you're right."

"Go after her naruto." He whispered after a long pause. I realized he was right. Tsunade-sama was the one who has no business with my friends. I stood quickly and stood ready to jump out my window and into the forest. I stopped and turned to Kakashi-sensei. "Thank you, Kakashi-sensei. If we never meet again-"

"We will. I know you too well." He interjected with a smile. I smiled back, saluted, and disappeared out my window.

I was in way over my head this time.