11. Closer

Naruto was speechless, how in the world this turned to be about him? She had to be misunderstanding something.

"D-Don't say weird things, Sakura-chan" he added, recovering from the shock and taking some of his ramen he had forgotten that was there.

"Naruto…"

He avoided eye contact and stuck his attention to his bowl of now cold ramen.

"I know it's hard to understand… but even Sasuke-kun admitted it"

"Huh?!"

"Well yeah, sort of" she mumbled. 'I can't tell him he wants to kill him!'

"The thing is… that we have to be prepared. Sasuke-kun warned me about another major problem"

"What problem?"

"The Village, is going to be attacked"

The jounin walked through the streets of Konoha, finding Naruto would be a piece of cake as all he did the past weeks after training was go to Ichiraku; but Sakura, that'd be another case. He has already visited the Hokage tower, the Hospital and the training grounds but she wasn't there. He knew that after that last conversation some days ago she had still to talk to Naruto so there'd be a great possibility those two were together.

However, that didn't sound as good as it seemed, Team 8 had just returned from their mission and he still had some stuff to discuss with her before telling Naruto what they had just got into.

"K-Kakashi sensei" Hinata called him from behind. He could tell she had been looking for him for how the veins around her eyes disappeared slowly as she run towards him.

"Got some news for me?" he added.

"H-Hai!" she replied catching her breath. "Tsunade-sama asked me to deliver this to you" she said handing him a piece of paper he unfolded and started to read. His uncovered eye widened as he kept on reading. 'What's the meaning of this?' he thought.

"Are you sure this happened?" he asked.

"H-Hai, not only me but Shino-kun and Kiba-kun noticed it too"

"Well this changes our plans" he said in a deep though. "Can you do me a favor?"

"I still don't see your point" Naruto argued now walking out of Ichiraku. "How can you say that to me? I'm sure of what I have to do and how" he added not without thinking about that.

"Well then… promise me that if things don't go as planned you'll do as I've just told you" she finished determinedly,

"Right" he said holding up his thumb just like he once did long time ago, but this time, things would be ok. "Leave it to me, Sakura-cha-n…" He wasn't able to finish his sentence properly as he caught a glimpse of a familiar face coming along with his sensei.

"Hinata?" Now that wasn't a sight he was used to. Sakura barely looked at their direction when Naruto started running towards them. "Kakashi sensei!" he yelled making everyone to turn to him.

"Just as I feared" Kakashi added making the blond look at him questioningly. "Oh it's nothing" he assured with a grin. "I was just talking about you with Hinata"

"Heh!?" Hinata gasped. That didn't sound right. Naruto wasn't able to add a thing as an annoyed Sakura arrived there too.

"Naruto, why did you run like that?" she complaint all annoyed making Naruto shiver.

"I-I'm sorry, Sakura-chan" he apologized with a sweatdrop.

Sakura crossed her arms calming herself. She was sure Kakashi had something to do with his sudden outburst. "So… what are you two doing in a place like this?" she asked to her sensei.

"Well… Hinata here was reporting me the last mission" Kakashi replied. It'd be safe to talk in front of her, however…

"Last mission?" Naruto asked.

The three looked at him. Was it ok to tell him? The two kunoichi looked at the jounin for approval.

"I guess it's was about time you knew" Kakashi sighed earning a confused look from the blond. "I guess Sakura has already told you about our last reconnaissance mission"

Naruto frowned. "Yeah"

"Well, things have changed since we last went there" Kakashi added as calmed as possible, however, it wasn't Naruto but Sakura the one to speak first.

"What do you mean by changed?! Is he ok? Did someone attack?"

Naruto could only look worriedly at his friend's reaction. Why after so many years he still felt that he knew nothing about him and it was Sakura the one who had to open his eyes for him? He couldn't remember how many times he had promised himself he won't be as dense as he was the first time when it came to Sasuke's feeling but there he was, not understanding again.

"Are you going to tell us what happened?" he asked calmly. That of course surprised them.

"I'm not sure about how to start this but… I have to ask you, Naruto. How is your training progressing?"

"Huh!?" Naruto raised an eyebrow. How could he be asking that at a time like this? Was that supposed to mean his fight with Sasuke was that closer? He could tell he was soon to use what Sakura make him promise to. Again, he was mistaken, or he wasn't? Maybe those were just suspicions. He needed to make sure they were.

"I think I've figured out most of the mystery now, I was hoping you to train me now" he ventured in answering.

"Good… then I think everything's going to be fine by now"

"What about Sasuke-kun?" Sakura added.

"Well, yeah…. about Sasuke…" Kakashi sighed. "Naruto has now to face him at sometime. Whether he wins or not his fight it's still up to him. The best scenario would be if it's just Sasuke but, due to the recent developments I'd be wise to suppose it's not him anymore"

A/N: Dun dun dun… what happened to Sasuke? Find out in the next chapter (well kind of). Anyway, here's one chapter after a long time… don't be upset, I said I wasn't updating until my vacations, right?