Kakashi supposed he shouldn't have called his team for a meeting so early, but the scene that lay before him put a whole new spin on the term "cute little genin". Knowing Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke, they showed up a around 5:00 in the morning, just as he'd ordered, and, naturally, they were probably exhausted; it really was no wonder the three of them were fast asleep now, almost three hours later.
The three lay side by side – Sasuke, Sakura, and then Naruto. Naruto had one arm draped over Sakura, and the tips of his fingers grazed Sasuke's arm. He was drooling into Sakura's hair a little bit, something Kakashi was sure the girl would hit him for later. Sasuke lay on his side, hugging Sakura's arm to his stomach. Kakashi could swear he was smiling, though he knew Sasuke would vehemently deny when confronted about it. And Sakura was sandwiched between her teammates, looking perfectly peaceful and content.
Naruto snored so loudly, Kakashi couldn't help but wonder how Sasuke and Sakura fell asleep in his presence, though he supposed being forced to spend five days together in the woods had something to do with it. He figured that Sasuke was quite the blanket hoarder, from the way he so possessively gripped Sakura's arm, but then Kakashi wondered if he was hugging her because of his blanket hoarding tendencies or because he was afraid she'd leave him or disappear altogether; he shuddered to think of the implications of that. Sakura whistled through her nose, and the steady rhythm of inhale-whistle-inhale-whistle-inhale-whistle seemed to be the only thing that indicated time passing.
Over the past couple of weeks, since the culmination of the Chuunin exams, Kakashi had come up with multiple reasons why signing them up for the exams was a terrible idea (namely, Orochimaru), but, seeing them now, he couldn't deny that the exams had done some good for the genin as well. They really were a team now, for better or worse, and it was heartwarming, seeing them so open and trusting with each other (well, at least what passed for open and trusting for Sasuke).
Years later, when reminiscing about the good old days of Team Seven despite how Madara and Orochimaru had effectively torn the team apart, he'd think back to this perfect little moment frozen in time, of Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke just holding onto each other, like they were all that mattered in the world, and he'd wish that, someday, he'd be able to see them like that again.
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