Chapter 33

Kakashi meets with the Elders

Kakashi was working with a group to rebuild the leaf village, on a team with Kurenai, when a messenger came to get him.

"The 5th Hokage and the village elders are requesting to see you," the messenger announced, he made no attempt to keep his voice down and other members of the group started whispering.

Kurenai made a quizzical look at the messenger and stepped closer to Kakashi.

"I'll be back soon," he whispered to her as he walked off toward the hospital with the messenger.

Once inside the hospital he went to the Hokage's office and knocked on the door.

"Come in," she called out

Kakashi stepped inside and was greeted by the village elders and Lady Tsunade, all of whom looked angry and upset. It was no secret that the 5th Hokage and the elders didn't get along.

"Please have a seat Kakashi," the older lady said, "we have some things we would like to discuss with you."

Kakashi came closer and took a seat in the side of the room that was empty. "You may be aware that the 5th Hokage plans to retire," the older male mentioned. He noticed Kakashi nodding his head and continued "We are discussing options for leadership for the village and we have arrived at a decision. We would like you to be the 6th Hokage of the village hidden in the leaves. Do you accept?" he asked.

Kakashi had already been expecting to hear news like this based off his recent conversation with lady Tsunade. "Yes, I will do my best to fulfill the role of Hokage." Kakashi answered.

"You will begin tomorrow," the older lady added

"Tomorrow!?" Kakashi wasn't prepared for this, he thought it was a gradual process, "but there hasn't even been a ceremony yet," he exclaimed.

"The ceremony will be held tomorrow, and directly after the ceremony you will begin your official duties." The male elder stated dismissively. "There is another thing that we need to discuss," he paused, "the matter of the 7th Hokage." Kakashi had been prepared for this as well.

"We feel that it is in the best interest of the village that you train Uzamaki Naruto as an apprentice. Five years is sufficient for you to learn your position and then you can begin training him. This isn't intended to force a retirement age for Hokage, but to ensure enough leadership for our village in the event of a crisis." He finished.

"I understand," he bowed his head.

"I will make the announcement to the village today, and invite them to the ceremony tomorrow," Lady Tsunade mentioned as she looked him in the eyes, "If there is anyone you need to tell before my announcement. you might want to do so now, everyone will know soon enough." She added.

He thought about Kurenai and wondered how she would take the news. He hadn't expected their close friendship and had never thought to mention the possibility of becoming Hokage because it seemed so unlikely to him. "yes," he uttered as he got up to leave. He nodded once at the three of them as he watched them leave. He hoped he got along with the Elders better than Tsunade did, but he knew it probably wasn't likely.

He walked back to the area where Kurenai was at, curious about what her reaction would be.

She seemed aware of him approaching, but she didn't look up when he came.

He stood right next to her as she bent down to pick up a brick and touched her elbow, she turned her head to look at him, wondering what the expression on his face could mean. "Kakashi" she stated, surprised by his touch.

"Kurenai," his voice was overly calm, "I need to talk to you about something," he put his hand on the back of his head and smiled at her.

"Sure," she said, "lets head back to my place," she offered.

"Great," he said as they began to walk toward her place together. Neither said a word to each other until they reached her place. He was formulating exactly how to tell her the news, and she was trying to be respectful of his privacy.

"Would you like some tea," she asked as they came in through the door.

"No," Kakashi said as he looked around to see if Konahamaru was there with the baby.

"They're at Konahamaru's today," she mentioned, knowing what he was looking for. "Kakashi, is there something wrong." She asked. She wondered if he got some bad news, or that maybe he had decided things were too complicated between them and he was going to end their friendship after all. She prepared herself for his answer.

"Wrong," he began, "well no." he continued. "But there is some news and I'm wondering how you will take it. Kurenai, the village elders and the 5th Hokage just met with me because lady Tsunade plans to retire soon, they have named me the 6th Hokage." He started at her, trying to gauge her reaction.

She looked down at the ground, her eyes became wide after he mentioned the word retirement and she knew what was coming next. Of course they would name him Hokage, there was no other Ninja his age that was as skilled as he was, and his students were also the most powerful and skilled in the village. She was happy for him, but since he didn't seem happy, there must be more.

When he didn't continue she looked up at him, the sadness in her heart was reflected on her eyes and she smiled at him.

"Kurenai," he said as he laid his open hand on her bicep and rubbed her arm. "What are you thinking about," he asked.

"I'm really happy for you Kakashi," she said. "I had no idea that the 5th was stepping down. It makes sense that they would chose you for a replacement." She added encouragingly.

"So you're okay with this then?" he asked, a smile starting on his face

"Why wouldn't I be, this is what's best for the village." She answered, a crestfallen look on her face.

"But it seems like there's something bothering you," he pressed.

"There is," she thought, but it wasn't like they were officially dating, they just enjoyed spending time together. Now that he was going to be Hokage, she thought, he would probably be too busy for her, and opt to meet someone with less challenging circumstances. "I just will miss spending time with you," she smiled at Kakashi, he looked into her sad eyes.

"About that," he smiled at her "there's something that we need to talk about…"

She knew he had to end it and the only thing she felt was sadness.

She nodded her head, wanting him to get the painful memory over with as quickly as possible.

"Maybe you've noticed that I'm the kind of person that knows what he wants, I don't like to beat around the bush and I'm not interested in wasting time. We've been spending a lot of time together and it's made me see that I've really been missing something." He paused

"This is particularly harsh" she thought. "Wasting time, missing something," the words felt like daggers.

"I'm in love with you Kurenai, I don't know if you can feel the same way about me. I can't stop thinking about you and I never want to leave when I walk you home. I know you are the kind of person that will lay her life on the line for her village and her friends, and that you are a top ninja in this village, and a wonderful mom." He took breath before asking her the last part in a soft tone, "Would you consider being my wife." He was afraid to look at her, he didn't think she would have a favorable answer, but he wanted to be clear that he wanted more.

Kurenai was stunned, she looked up at Kakashi while he was talking to see him looking down at the floor. The strongest shiobi she knew couldn't even look her in the eyes, he was afraid of her rejecting him like she had been afraid of his rejection of her.

"Kakashi," she said with happy tears in her eyes as she jumped to hug him like the night he had given her the book. This time when he held her he grabbed her tightly and didn't let go for a few minutes. When he relaxed his grip she pulled back to look in his eye and ran her fingers over his forehead, he didn't seem to mind her touch. She wanted to actually kiss him, but had never seen behind his mask that he wore. She remembered him wearing it even when he was younger and realized she hadn't thought much about it before. Now that she wanted it off it was all she could think about. He released his grip on her and let her go.

He moved his hands up to untie his headband, and started to take off his mask. His face was beautiful and he had a nice jaw line. It looked like he was mostly clean shaven but he had a 5 o'clock shadow starting that gave him a sexy rugged look. She felt like a character in one of the stories she would read. After removing them he stepped close to her, placed a hand on the small of her back, and pulled her over to him. He wrapped his other arm around her back and dipped her slightly and bent down to kiss her. When he pulled her back up she jumped up into his arms, wrapping her legs around him, and whispered in his ear.

He held her to him and walked to the bedroom while kissing her.