Chapter 2: Thinking

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Naruto knew something was wrong the moment he saw her. He was standing in the middle of the street, waiting for Sakura to join him.

Her eyes were red, puffy, and bloodshot from lack of sleep and her clothes were wrinkled. She was rubbing her eyes and yawning as she walked slowly towards him. Her feet seemed to be moving by themselves, step by step. As she abruptly stopped walking and stood next to him he said:

"Um, Sakura is everything okay? You don't look so good."

She looked up at him with a small smile. She was obviously very tired.

"I'm okay," she sighed, "I was up late studying."

"But-"

"Really Naruto, I'm fine," she said telling him silently to drop the conversation.

"You pulled another all-nighter, huh?" he asked. He let out a sigh.

"Yeah," she replied quietly.

Naruto checked his watch.

Come on, we better get moving. We might actually be later than Kakashi-sensei," He smiled at his own joke. Sakura giggled.

"I don't think that's possible," she grinned. Naruto always knew how to cheer her up.

They started off at a brisk pace to the training fields. When they reached team 7's designated spot, as usual Kakashi wasn't there yet. They sat down with their backs against a tree.

"Well Sakura," Naruto said, "Kakashi won't be here for," He counted on his fingers. She laughed. "like, another two hours, so you might as well get some sleep."

"I think I'll do that," she said and before her head touched the ground she was in dreamland.

Naruto sat back and prepared to wait. He looked at Sakura with worry plastered on his usually happy face. He could tell that her red eyes weren't just from lack of sleep, she had been crying. 'There is only one reason she would be crying…Sasuke. I'm positive I didn't say anything though which means there would only be one more person that would set her off.' He sighed. 'Kakashi-sensei has a lot of explaining to do.'

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Kakashi looked up at the pale blue sky. He was standing at the memorial stone as usual. The sun was steadily getting higher.

"I'd better go. They're going to kill me as it is," he said to himself.

He was referring to Sakura and Naruto. The truth was they didn't yell at him anymore simply because they were used to it by now, but he had to have an excuse to leave. He started walking down the little path in the forest to meet his former students. He stopped behind a tree just before he reached the clearing. Naruto was sitting with his back against a tree next to Sakura, who appeared to be sleeping. Naruto had a worried look on his face.

'What is he so concerned about? He never looks like that.' He walked into view.

"Yo. Wake up Sakura, we have a mission," he said.

"No, not yet," Naruto replied seriously. "I have to talk to you first." He shifted his gaze from Sakura to Kakashi. Kakashi raised his eyebrows. "Look at her eyes," Naruto commanded.

Kakashi did. Her eyes were puffy and red. He frowned. He hadn't meant for her to think about what he said that much.

"So, she didn't get enough sleep," he said casually.

"No," Naruto said again just as sternly. "It's not just that. She was crying." He paused for dramatic effect. "You know she only cries about one thing. I'm positive I didn't say anything about him that would make her cry, so what did you say?"

Kakashi sighed. 'Crap. Naruto is only like this when he is really mad.' He resisted the urge to smile. 'He wouldn't have been this concerned about her when we first met. Now, he's just like someone else I used to know…' He looked up at the sky again, thinking about what the heck he would say. Naruto wouldn't stop until he got a good answer and he knew it.

"We talked," he said, trying to buy time.

"And?" Naruto persisted. Kakashi finally thought of something.

"I told her something I used to tell myself everyday," he said quietly, barely above a whisper. "Will you please wake up Sakura now?"

Naruto's expression changed from stern and serious, to questioning and confused, but he seemed to be satisfied.

"Fine," he replied. He leaned over to Sakura and put a hand on her shoulder. "Sakura, wake up. Sensei's here."

"Mm. What?" she said dazedly and sat up. She looked around confusedly. "Oh, hi sensei."

"Now then," Kakashi cleared his throat and started to talk again. "As I was explaining to Naruto, we have a mission."

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Hi peoples! Oooo cliffhanger. I'm evil. This might be the last chapter for a while. I'm going on vacation at the end of July. I might be able to get one more in we'll see. Sorry about putting this in the narusaku section. I was spaced out. Just in case you didn't know the writing in italics is someone thinking. (Hopefully you figured that out already.) Sasuke will be coming in the next few chapters I promise. Suggestions are welcome. Please review.

-kakashifangrl1012