A/N: Hey, first NaruSaku related posting...this is the first of three short, intertwined oneshots/chapters. Each one takes place around three years apart during different times of day (hence the name). Hope you enjoy...R & R

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"MORNING"

"Good morning, Sakura-chan!"

Rolling her eyes at the familiar, obnoxious-sounding voice, Sakura continued walking. "Morning…"

Dashing over to his favorite pink-haired Genin, Uzumaki Naruto waved as he flashed his trademark grin. Regarding the energetic blonde approaching her with a brief smile, Sakura tilted her head to the side so she could focus her emerald green eyes on the brooding dark-haired boy standing behind Naruto.

"Good morning, Sasuke-kun!" she beamed.

Seemingly in an even sourer mood than usual, the raven-haired youth simply nodded in response as he patiently waited for the two of them to join him. As Sakura took her usual place close beside Sasuke, Naruto moved up between them. Fidgeting with the freshly applied bandages along his face, the blonde groaned impatiently, drawing annoyed glances from his two teammates. Team Seven was awaiting the arrival of their habitually late sensei, who had asked the three of them to meet him atop the roof of the hospital. Doing so gave Naruto little excuse to not check in with the medics.

"Naruto, will you stop that," Sakura scolded, watching as he continued fussing with the dressings.

"I can't help it," Naruto replied. "They itch like crazy."

"If you keep it up, the wounds won't heal," Sakura warned. "And if you weren't so reckless, you wouldn't even need them. Sasuke-kun managed to come out of the fight okay."

At the mention of his name, Sasuke looked over. He and Naruto briefly exchanged glances, each of them noticing the slight glimmer of sadness reflected in the other's eyes. Both boys quickly looked away.

"Don't try and compare me to him," Sasuke said coolly.

"Hmph," Naruto glared. "No need to be jealous, Sasuke."

Sasuke eyed Naruto intensely, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"Whatever," he muttered.

"Naruto!" Sakura started. "Don't try and…"

A sudden puff of smoke stopped her before she could continue.

"Yo."

Calmly standing against the chain link fence surrounding the rooftop, Kakashi held a hand up signaling his greeting.

"You're late," Naruto huffed, crossing his arms.

"Well, I have an excellent reason for that," the silver-haired Jounin smiled beneath his mask. "Though I can't really tell you right now."

"How convenient," Naruto muttered.

"Indeed," Kakashi replied, nonchalantly leaning back against the fence and stuffing a hand in his pants pocket. "I see you visited with a nurse at least, Naruto. I'm glad meeting here at least fixed one problem."

"Is there some other problem, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Nothing that you need to worry about," he answered warmly. "Naruto and I have some things to discuss after today's training."

"Eh?" Naruto mouthed, looking up.

Sasuke lifted his head, interested in the details as well.

"I've been asked to lend you out for a special mission, "Kakashi told him. "We'll worry about the specifics later, okay?"

"Special mission?" Naruto exclaimed with a wide grin.

The eager Genin immediately rushed to Kakashi's side.

"What kind of mission?"

"I don't really know," Kakashi answered. "As I said, we'll talk about it after training."

"But if it's a special mission, then shouldn't I be preparing?" Naruto questioned. "I should learn some stronger techniques, too, right? Hey, Kakashi-sensei. Teach me how to do the Chidori, too."

"Teach you how?" Kakashi responded. "It's not that simple."

"What?" Naruto protested. "I object to that…teach it to me!"

Naruto continued his ranting and complaining, oblivious to his two teammates standing only a few yards away. Amidst several larger puddles of the previous day's rain, Sakura and Sasuke watched as Naruto embarrassed himself further. Anxiously fidgeting with her hands behind her back, Sakura cleared her throat.

"Sasuke-kun," she said, turning to look at him. "Thank you."

Sasuke shifted slightly, but continued gazing at the ground.

"You saved us from the Sand again, right? Sakura smiled softly.

Sasuke's gaze hardened. "No."

"Eh?" Sakura said startled, leaning closer.

"Naruto saved you," Sasuke said, silently observing as Naruto tried to gather chakra in his hand.

Sakura gasped, eyes widening slightly as she glanced towards her blonde teammate. As Sasuke's words echoed inside her head, a small grin spread across her face. Though she didn't know why, she couldn't help but laugh a little.

"Now, Sasuke-kun," she chuckled. "You don't need to be so modest. It's true Naruto's gotten stronger, but he can't—"

"It's true," Sasuke stopped her.

Sakura froze.

"He fought with everything he had to save you," Sasuke said.

Sakura could barely grasp what she was hearing.

"He even showed powers he's never shown before," Sasuke revealed.

"He did?" she muttered.

Forcing herself to look upon her teammate, Sakura had trouble collecting her thoughts.

"For me?"

As she watched Naruto, red-faced and trying to focus chakra into his hands, Sakura realized how most of the preconceived notions everyone had about the former dead-last ninja had already been erased from her mind. She had seen first-hand on several occasions how wrong she and the others had been about Naruto. The events with Zabuza and Haku in Wave Country…Naruto trying to protect them from Orochimaru in the Forest of Death…beating Kiba and Neji in the Chuunin Exam tournament…she had seen all of it. So why was she so surprised?

"Chidori!"

Still panting and red-faced, Naruto held his hand high as his attempted Chidori failed. Realizing she had been staring at him, Sakura's expression softened as she smiled tenderly.

"Baka," she mumbled to herself.

Sasuke turned, frowning slightly as he moved towards Naruto and Kakashi.

"See?" Kakashi said calmly. "It's not something you can just learn like that."

Naruto gathered himself. "Hmph…let me try again…"

"No, I think once was enough," Kakashi sighed.

"But, Kakashi-sensei—"

"Well, on to today's training schedule," Kakashi started, before quickly noticing a distracted Sakura. "Sakura, care to join us?"

"Hm?" she stumbled. "Oh, right…"

Moving beside Sasuke and Naruto, Sakura listened as Kakashi explained the schedule for the remainder of the morning. Once he'd finished, he motioned for the three of them to follow him back into the hospital. Sasuke turned immediately, leading the way off of the roof. Naruto hastily hurried to catch up, rushing past a still smiling Sakura.

"Thank you…Naruto," she whispered inaudibly.

"Hm?" Naruto paused. "You say something, Sakura-chan?"

"No," Sakura said, shaking her head as she hid her smile.

"You sure?" Naruto asked, rubbing his chin. "I could have sworn I heard…"

"Get your ears checked then," Sakura smartly replied, gently smacking the back of his head. "Let's go."

Before Naruto could respond, Sakura was quickly following Sasuke and Kakashi through the door into the hospital. Shouting for the others to wait up, Naruto scampered after them, splashing through several of the pools of rainwater littering the rooftop.