Chapter 43

A request to the Hokage of the villiage hidden in the leaves

Naruto was announced to the Hokage and let in to see him. Kakashi was preparing for Naruto's visit the day after the argument they had, he was surprised that Naruto had waited this long to come and talk to him.

Naruto had come up to his desk, and to Kakashi's surprise, Naruto kneeled down in front of it.

"6th Hokage, Kakashi Sensi. I apologize for my behavior last week, pounding on your door, yelling at you. I am also sorry that I didn't properly congratulate you and Kurenai on your engagement, I am happy for the both of you." He paused and began again. "I came to ask you if I can have permission to leave the village to get Hinata back. I want to tell her how I feel to see if that makes a difference. If she cannot forgive me, I would like her to be able to return to the village and I would like to leave in her place. All I ask is that you consider this request Sensi." Naruto remained in a kneeling position and didn't look up at Kakashi.

"Naruto?" Kakashi asked, he couldn't believe this was Naruto for a second, his behavior caught Kakashi by surprise.

"Yeah," Naruto looked up

"I am glad that you apologized for your actions, and I have to remind you that I'm Hokage now, not just your sensi. If you need something, or need to make a request, this is the proper way to address a Hokage. I normally wouldn't have cared, but I can't have an example set to the other villagers to speak to the Hokage in a disrespectful tone, it sets a bad precedent for the future, when you become Hokage," he added.

Naruto waited to hear what the verdict on getting Hinata would be.

"As for Hinata," Kakashi sighed. "I've told you how I feel about this, but I can't deny you the chance to explain yourself, the rest will be her choice. She may not choose to come back with you, be prepared for that." He looked Naruto over, he was being much more still than usual. "I think I will send someone with you, but not a full squad like you asked for because I can't spare people from the rebuilding effort. You can leave today if you'd like." Kakashi finished.

"Thank you sensi," he said as he rose up, he'd have to thank Lord Hiashi for his advice, "who are you sending with me?" he asked.

"I was thinking about Shikamaru, he's done the journey a few times now and knows the route very well. I'll send for him and you can arrange a time to leave when he gets here."

"There's something else that we need to talk about Naruto," Kakashi mentioned.

Naruto looked startled, he thought he had covered everything in his apology, "what?" he asked.

Kakashi wanted to be careful about how he worded this to Naruto because he wasn't ready to tell him that part of his job would be to eventually train Naruto to become Hokage. That was a much longer conversation.

"How do I put this…" Kakashi tried to weigh his words while Naruto waited as patiently as he could.

After a moment Naruto was starting to get antsy, "Well, what is it sensi?"

"No matter how things work out with Hinata, you will not be permitted to ever 'leave' the village, as in move on a temporary or permanent basis." Kakashi was expecting Naruto to give him backlash over this and it didn't surprise him when that exact thing happened.

"What if that's the only way that she will come back because she can't forgive me? I never planned on leaving the village but if it means getting her back can't I go live on Mt. Myoboku or something?" Naruto started to get worked up and was already raising his voice again.

"No, you can't. You'll have to find a way to bring her back that includes both of you staying in the village, she was only permitted to leave temporarily as well. I'm not losing two of my top shinobi from my village." Kakashi's tone was severe. Maybe he shouldn't have consented to Hinata leaving in the first place, this had turned into a disaster. "You need to think about the long term consequences of your choices, I hoped the issue you're having with Hinata would have taught you that."

This statement deflated Naruto and he sat back in his chair and exhaled deeply.

Kakashi hated to say it, but he had to bring Naruto back to earth to show him the big picture sometimes.

"What should I do, sensi?" Naruto asked Kakashi.

"What you planned on, go and tell her how you feel and bring her back. Try not to repeat your mistake that caused this." Kakashi answered.

"What if she doesn't want to come back," Naruto asked.

"She will, the fact that she left because of her feelings for you is the same reason that will cause her to return. I know you have feelings for her, but you have to show her that."

"I hope that will be enough, but I swear that I won't leave without her, I won't give up." Naruto promised.

Kakashi stood up to get the messenger, "I'll send for Shikamaru."

"When he gets here tell him I'm at the gate to the village and I'm ready to go." Naruto added as he nodded to Kakashi and left his office.