LATE-BLOOMING LOVE CHP.4

The next morning, Sakura woke to the constant, blaring "BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!" of her alarm. Half-asleep, she clumsily dropped a finger on the snooze button.

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Sakura woke again, not realizing she had dozed off. She yawned, tapping her hand to her mouth. She turned and glanced at her alarm clock. It read 9:30 AM. Slowly realizing it meant that she was late for her mission at town hall, she leapt out of bed, threw some clothes on, and ran out the door, her hair looking a mess.

"Oh, great. I haven't been on Kakashi's greatest side lately, and if I'm too late, it might cost me dearly.", she thought. With that thought suddenly impaled in her mind, she broke into a sprint, the backpack she had placed over one shoulder slowly becoming disheveled.

When she finally reached the Town Hall, Naruto and Sasuke were talking to an old, poor looking man. Kakashi glowered at her entrance. He gave her one of "his looks", then approached her.

"I..I'm really sorry...Fell back asleep...had to run here.." Sakura explained, quite flustered and pausing in between each few words to pant and catch her breath.

"It doesn't MATTER what excuses you have, you should be more dedicated! Now, if I don't witness FAST improvement from you, I may be forced to..."

Sakura was so tired. She had heard this speech before; she knew what he was going to say. She flickered in and out of listening to him. When finally Kakashi lowered and shook his head in dismay, knowing she had not been listening, he gestured for her to sit down by him on a bench.

"Ok, today, we have a...well...slightly unpleasant quest, but we must get past if before we can get to more advanced work. See that man over there? Well, he's old man Sunandura. He's blind as a bat, and he apparently lost his guide dog. He says it's on the roof of the bank downtown, and he's paying us about a cent to go get it for him. Naruto and Sasuke are getting a description from him..."

At that moment, the two boys approached Kakashi.

"Oh...ok then, are we ready to set off?"

After seeing three reluctant nods, Kakashi bid Sunandura goodbye, then led the children out of the building.

"The bank is 40 miles away, and we have to ride bikes, or walk."

All 3 groaned and rolled their eyes. Kakashi glared.