She was so tired.

A constant pace for eight hours wouldn't normally make her so tired, but she was unusually tired that passed week. Tsunade demanded that they take an extra couple of days rest before the mission so Sasuke could spend time with his pregnant wife, and Naruto could sit down and set a date with Hinata. She knew this was in her benefit too. After saying her goodbyes and promising that the team would be back before Ino hit her seven month mark, they began their trip. She felt tired before they set off that morning, but now she seemed to be worse. She knew part of it was from her pregnancy; she was just at the stage that she needed to intake more calories than usual to keep the child sustained also.

For an active Kunoichi, who burns more than the average woman, this meant she almost had to be constantly eating. She hadn't foreseen Kakashi leading a forced march; otherwise she would have packed her self some snacks she could eat with out the boys noticing.

Some ninja she was. She had failed the,"Always be prepared," lesson for the day.

She felt plain exhausted and doing a fine impression of Kakashi's droopy eyed look. She watched her team ahead of her trotting along with out a care in the world. Normally they took breaks every four hours. They hadn't even had a break to eat since that morning, which brought her back to the fact she was pregnant and at the point she could eat one of her team mates and be ok with it. She was just that hungry.

What was Kakashi's rush this mission? She didn't want to sound like a whiner, but she needed to rest and have some time to dig through her back to see if she had any type of edibles.

"Kakashi, I need a break." She said wearily, but he didn't even turn around.

"We are almost to the village where we board the boat. You can make it till then." His voice was cold as he continued walking. If she had the energy, she would be damn pissed. Maybe even a little violent.

"Fine…" Sakura was all she could manage as a come back as they continued. Naruto and Sasuke exchanged glances. With out saying a word, Naruto turned to see Sakura struggling and began to lag behind a little bit to keep pace with her. Sasuke quickened his pace to walk beside Kakashi.

"Sakura-chan? Are you alright?" Naruto said, just low enough for her to hear him.

"I am just a little tired; I haven't slept well the passed couple of days."

"Want a piggy back ride?" Naruto smiled and turned his back to her to offer it to her. Sakura smiled at him sweetly and waved slightly.

"I think I can make it Naruto, thank you though." He patted her back slightly as he continued his stride next to her. He decided to strike up a conversation with her to help her forget how tired she was. Sakura smiled to herself as he started rambling about random things. She knew exactly what he was doing, and normally she would roll her eyes and poke at him, but right now she welcomed it. Something to make her forget the burning, heavy feeling in her legs and the feeling like her stomach was chewing on the vital organs around it.

"So what is up with you?" Sasuke side glanced at Kakashi and asked after they were out of ear shot of the other two. Kakashi pulled out his book and tried to brush Sasuke off.

"Your wife's nosiness is rubbing off on you Sasuke." Kakashi said blandly. Sasuke snorted at his comment, but continued anyway.

"You were carrying her home last mission, but now you are making her walk for hours with no breaks."

"She is a grown woman, and she is a Kunoichi. She can take care of her self."

"She isn't one hundred percent right now. You saw her in Tsunade's office."

"Don't remind me." Kakashi said miserably, causing Sasuke and narrow his eyes on him.

"What is going on, Kakashi? Something isn't right between you two. Normally you are unconsciously babying her."

"I don't baby her." Kakashi said bluntly, a little faster than usual. Sasuke scoffed and crossed his arms as he walked.

"Don't even get me started on how many times you have carried her home, or stayed behind to make sure she was ok at the clinic. Hell, you even visit her at the clinic. You hate hospitals." Kakashi stayed silent and kept on walking, his masked face buried even deeper into his book. "She needs a break, even if you guys are on the outs. As the team leader you have to watch out for your team, even if you are upset with each other." Kakashi still didn't answer. "You're being as stubborn as Naruto."

Kakashi's reaction to that was just a grunt of disapproval as he flipped a page in his book.

"Well when we get the town she needs to rest for a bit. Something is bothering her enough to interfere with her physically; I don't want her getting ill right before we go into a foreign country." Sasuke informed the older man more than he asked. He wasn't the young student anymore. Even though Kakashi was his team leader, he knew when to push the line of authority.

Sasuke watched as Kakashi put the book away into his Jounin vest and casually glanced behind him at Sakura. She seemed to be doing a little better since Naruto was keeping with her pace and talking to her. Sasuke wasn't used to Kakashi being this stubborn, especially when Sakura was involved. He knew he had to be pushing her for a reason and he really didn't want to try and drag an explanation out of the currently obstinate man. He would just have to get out of Sakura later

Kakashi wanted to beat his head against a tree. He hated acting like this, but for the distance thing to work he needed to treat her the same way he would Naruto or Sasuke if they were complaining about wanting a break. They were not too far from the town, and they were on an important mission. She never asked for breaks, and he truly felt awful for being such an asshole about it, but maybe that was for the best.

He just needed some time to get his mind in order. Things had been all screwed up since they spent the night together. He needed to start over from a clean slate. Maybe in order to do that she had to realize he could really be an asshole and that there was nothing more than friendship he was capable of giving her.

He was distancing himself from her mostly for her own sake. She didn't need him dragging her down, but he had to admit to himself that it was also partially for his own sake. Sakura was a distraction to him. He never realized how much of a distraction until now. He wanted the abrupt thoughts of her, that weren't exactly how you would act toward a friend, to go away.

Something snapped when he stood in the kitchen alone with her. He made a conscious effort the rest time spent in their village before the mission to avoid her like the plague. It would go away, he just had to avoid being alone with her and to wait it out.

Though, he was currently trying to beat down the urge to scoop her up so she wouldn't have to struggle to keep up with them. That would not help his current endeavor.

Sakura was a friend. Only a friend. He wasn't about to let his libido screw up one of the best friendships he had.

He was doing a damn fine job screwing it up on his own, thank you very much.

Sakura had spent another hour walking after she asked for a break. She hadn't realized just how slow her pace was getting until she felt Naruto's hand on her back. She looked up to see he was directing her toward the gates of a small village.

"We are here Sakura. Which is good because Sasuke's complaining about his blister is driving us all insane." Naruto said, gaining a death glare from the Uchiha.

He didn't have to use Sasuke to make Sakura feel better; Sasuke thought out of irritation. He could have easily complained of some other condition that was affecting himself instead of Sasuke.

The only response Sakura managed though was to stumble as her world began to spin. Just like that, she dropped like a rock. Fortunately Naruto quickly caught her before she fell to the ground. She slumped into his chest, thankful to be off her feet. The last thing she saw before going unconscious was Naruto's very worried face.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto said, shaking her gently. Sasuke walked over to them quickly to check to see if she was alright.

"Sakura isn't normally like this. I think something may be wrong Naruto." Sasuke said as he checked to see if she was running a fever. "She needs rest-" Sasuke said, shooting Kakashi a glare, "-but to be sure I say we get her checked out by the village medic."

"Kakashi!" Naruto expression seemed to prove that he was indeed the Kyuubi container as he almost shook with anger. "She asked for a break. She said she needed to stop! It wont matter how fast we got to the snow country if she is sick! She is more important than how fast we get there, you-" Naruto was interrupted by Kakashi's sharp voice.

"Take her to the medic." Kakashi drawled out as he turned away from them. His shoulders slumped a little as if in defeat, causing Naruto to do a double take. It was now obvious something was eating Kakashi also. "I will find us a room for the night. We will take the ship that leaves tomorrow." Kakashi continued, and with that he disappeared in puff of smoke. The other two men just stared at each other dumbstruck. Naruto's fury evaporated as he turned to where Kakashi had just been.

"I think we are in the dark about something." Naruto said as he hoisted Sakura up onto his chest. Sasuke only nodded in silent agreement.