Picnic By the River
A/N: This takes place after the Water country story arc
It was the middle of springtime and the weather was perfect. Not too hot, not too cold and just the slightest hint of a breeze. Kakashi had decided to let team 7 have the rest of the day off since they had trained so hard in the morning. After he told the team that the rest of the day there would be no training, Naruto had immediately run off to the ramen stand and Sasuke had also left, although in a slightly less urgent way than Naruto. This left Sakura and Kakashi.
"Nowhere to go Sakura?" asked Kakashi.
"No it's not that, it's just that I can't decide where to go," she answered. "It's such a nice day outside and there are so many different places I could go." She suddenly brightened and said "Maybe I should see if Sasuke wants to do something with me."
"I think he was going to train some more." said Kakashi.
"Oh" she answered, looking slightly crestfallen.
"You could join Naruto at the ramen stand, I'm sure he would be happy to have some company" Kakashi said.
At this remark Sakura scowled and said "Ramen, ramen, ramen! Is that all he ever thinks about? One day he's going to explode from eating so much of it."
Under his mask, Kakashi's lips twitched into a small smile which went unseen by Sakura. "I'm going to sit by the river and eat lunch, would you like to join me?" he asked her.
"That sounds nice" she said. "I guess having a picnic by the river is better than more training, or ramen."
They gathered up their belongings and started to walk in the direction of the river. As they walked, Sakura gazed upward at the brilliant blue sky and marveled at the many different shaped clouds. The trees were just as beautiful as the sky. Since it was spring, all of the cherry trees in the village were in full bloom. The trees with their puffy pink blossoms reminded Sakura of the clouds she was looking at.
"Sakura?"
"Yes?"
"Is this spot alright?"
Sakura stopped looking at the clouds and looked at the spot which Kakashi had chosen. She blinked in confusion when she realized she had never seen this place along the river before.
"I didn't know there were water lilies in the river, these are beautiful!" she exclaimed.
Kakashi smiled and said "Not many people come to this part of the river."
They both sat down, and as Sakura started eating she watched Kakashi out of the corner of her eye to see if she could catch a glimpse of his elusive face. Unfortunately, she had no such luck. As he started eating Kakashi pulled out his orange book and started to read blocking most of his face.
"Kakashi?"
"Mmmm?"
"Why do you like that book so much?"
Without taking his eyes from the pages of the book he replied "It has a good plot, excellent characters, and it's well written."
Sakura sighed at his vague answer and irritably brushed her hair out of her eyes. Once again without taking his eyes from his book, Kakashi said to Sakura "Have you ever thought about cutting your hair? It might start to get in the way if it gets too long."
"I don't want to cut my hair. Besides, I would look really weird if my hair was short" she replied.
This time Kakashi did look up from his book as he carefully took one pink lock of hair and gently tugged on it. "I'm sure you would look lovely no matter how short your hair was" he said.
"But Sasuke may not like it" she replied.
Kakashi dropped the lock of hair and asked her "Is Sasuke's opinion more important than trying to do your best at being a ninja?"
"I…" she started to say, but then stopped as she thought about Kakashi's question. "I guess being a ninja is more important" she said reluctantly, but quickly added "Sasuke is important also."
Kakashi did not reply to this and Sakura gazed thoughtfully at the river, thinking about what he had said.
"I suppose the important things for ninjas to do are to get their jobs done accurately and quickly, work together with their teammates, and try to get everyone out of the situation alive" she said.
Kakashi glanced over his book at her. Sometimes she would show a surprising maturity for someone her age. "Yes, those are very important things to remember when you are doing your job as a ninja" he said.
"I suppose there will be even more dangerous situations ahead of us, like more of those ninja from the water country" she said.
"I won't let any of you die while you're with me" Kakashi said softly.
Sakura turned toward him and smiled at his reply. Kakashi also smiled back at her.
"Well, I have other things to do and I should be going" he said and stood up.
"I guess I should be going too" said Sakura.
"Think about what I said alright?" as he ruffled her hair.
"I will sensei" she said.
"And don't be late for training tomorrow" he added as he disappeared in puff of smoke and leaves.
"WHAT?" Sakura yelled at the place where he had just disappeared, "That's not fair! You're the one who is always late with unbelievable excuses!" She shook her head and started to walk back to her house.
**************
Several months later, after the Chunin exams were over, Sakura touched her short hair and thought about the conversation she had with Kakashi. His words were now clearer than ever and she would never forget what he had told her.