"What are you doing?"

Kakashi's white-haired head turned to face his visitor. "Standing, as people usually do when both of their legs are under them."

"Very funny, sensei," Naruto walked up until he was standing next to Kakashi and looking at all the names on the stone, rubbing his hands together. "I mean, why are you here today? It's freezing out here!"

"I always come here. And I have a scarf." He continued to stand, slouched with his hands in his pockets.

"Well, I was gonna go grab some ramen, if you wanna come. Sakura's on duty at the hospital today, and Sai's… you know… He's Sai."

"You just want me to pay, don't you?"

The blond grinned cheekily. "Maybe. But the point's the same, right?"

"Thanks for the offer, Naruto, but I think I'll pass for now."

"Y-you'll pass? On ramen? How can anybody pass on ramen?"

"Not everyone lives and breathes ramen. And, as I said, I'm fine here."

The young shinobi's face clouded over. "Ok, fine! I'll pay!"

Chuckling, Kakashi shook his head. "That's quite a generous offer, but no thanks. Maybe some other time."

They stood in silence for a minute, as Naruto entertained the possibility that Kakashi had finally gone insane. Turning down a free meal?

They stood, staring at the stone.

Then they kept standing.

Finally, he asked, "Are… are you okay, Kakashi-sensei?"

"I'm always okay, Naruto."

"No one's always okay."

His sensei didn't reply to that, instead choosing to stare at the memorial stone. Naruto gave one last, fleeting thought to his bowl of steaming ramen, and then turned it down in favor of staying with his sensei.

Several silent minutes ticked by, and the ramen-obsessed shinobi gradually felt his toes become numb. "How long are you going to stay out here?"

"I don't know. A while. Couple hours, maybe."

"Well, don't. That's stupid. You've already been out here for what? An hour?"

"Three."

"Three hours? How can you stand still that long? Anyway, the point is you can probably go home now, since you've already visited them for a bit."

"I said I'm fine here, Naruto."

"Can you even feel your fingers? I can't feel half of my body right now, and I've only been out here a couple minutes."

The jounin said nothing.

"You can't feel your fingers and you're gonna stay out here for a couple more hours? Man, and people say I'm stupid."

"Staying inside on a cold day does not determine your intelligence."

"That's only something that stupid and cold people always say."

Kakashi blinked a couple of times. "You've actually heard someone else say those exact words before?"

"Well… no. But you're still being stupid."

With a sigh, Kakashi said, "All right, Naruto, you win. I'll meet you in half an hour at Ichiraku for ramen. But you're paying."

"Half an hour? Why not right n-"

"Half. An hour."

"Okay, I'll see you then." The genin immediately turned and jogged back toward the town, calling over his shoulder, "You'd better be there, baka-sensei!"

"I will."

Comments are more than welcome, as this is only my second attempt at something Naruto-related. Thanks for reading, and I hope, wherever you are, that your day is awesome.

~JillianWatson1058