Wai! Thank you wonderful people for all your cute lil' reviews! Makes me very happy! Someone even gave me soda and - err – I don't know what the other one was. Oh, and sea turtles can drown? ~falls off chair~ oops? Never mind. The initial animal was supposed to be baby-whales. But Imagine Kakashi carrying a baby whale that weighs over a ton!
This chapter was supposed to be up 3 days ago – but I had some problems in logging-on to my account. Bah! Humbug! Sorry for this being late!
WHY NOT 3Naruto did his assigned task carefully. He did not do any screw-ups in the first mission and this surprised both his teammates. When they were all done, Sakura noticed Naruto looking up with boredom at Kakashi, waiting for the next mission. His expression could have rivaled Shikamaru's any day.
"What's next?" He asked, voice deadpanned.
Kakashi pulled out the list from his pocket. "Digging potatoes in the Wakamura garden."
"Is it garden day today?" Sakura asked herself, wondering why their missions were always garden related.
"You can say that." Kakashi said, hearing what Sakura asked, making the girl blush.
Naruto was already heading for the Wakamura garden fields and this made the three behind him look. "We're never going to finish if you three keep lagging behind." He said and did not even turn his head to tell them that at their faces.
Kakashi merely narrowed his eyes.
Something was amiss.
*
They had done six different tasks that day including babysitting the Chiharu's twins, cleaning dishes at the Red Dragon restaurant (since they were missing some staff who caught the flu), cleaning the chicken run at the Hajime's farm and planting the tomato seeds in the backyard of the Hotaru residence. It was really a tiring day since they did so many chores. But in the end they got paid for it, so it was all right.
"Well, that's it for today." Kakashi said. It was five the in the afternoon and the sun was beginning to set. "Same time tomorrow. Don't be late."
They parted their ways but Kakashi stopped Naruto before he could go any further. "Something you need, Kakashi-sensei?"
"Is something wrong Naruto? You're not yourself today." Kakashi said, and Naruto merely shrugged.
"Just a bit sleepy, Kakashi-sensei. I did not really sleep well last night." Naruto gave him a droopy-eyed look.
"Hmm." Kakashi nodded and released his grip on Naruto's arm. "Well, make sure you get some good sleep tonight."
"Yeah I will." Naruto said, and waved heading for his own home.
Kakashi sighed. "Man, you really are a lousy liar." He mumbled and headed for his own home. Maybe Naruto was in one of his mood swings.
*
The next day, Naruto was quiet. He gave his teammates a simple and flat good morning and then remained silent. For once, the mundane pattern of Sasuke and Naruto bickering with each other was broken. Instead, there was a heavy silence, until Sakura asked.
"What side of the bed did you wake up Naruto?" She looked down at him with hands on her hips.
Naruto looked up from his sitting position. "Huh?"
"I mean why are you so quiet? Did you hit your head or something?" Sakura asked, for once concern was evident on her face.
"Ah, no. I ran out of cup ramen." Naruto said and then went back to his silent mode.
Sakura blinked, wondering whether running out of cup ramen was really the cause for Naruto's silence. Come to think of it, he's been quiet since his normal bickering yesterday with Sasuke. Sakura looked at Naruto's sitting figure, who had his gaze fixed on the clouds drifting above him. Did Sasuke's words affect Naruto this much?
"Good morning!" Kakashi greeted, appearing in a poof of Chakra smoke.
"You're twenty minutes late! Wow!" Sakura said, checking her watch. "Sensei, have you been eating something bad?" Kakashi merely gave her a smile. "Or is it the same baby fox?" Sakura asked in a deadpanned voice.
"Yup! The baby fox was so sad yesterday that I figured it would cheer up a bit if I showed up a little earlier!" Kakashi rubbed the back of his head.
Sakura twisted her lips. "Maybe the baby fox wouldn't be so sad if you actually showed on time!" She then rubbed her chin, looking at the sky. "Though this is progress. Hmm! Hmm!" She nodded to herself.
"Well, let's get on with the missions. We're going to look for Inoue's runaway turkey!" Sakura and Sasuke frowned. Someone actually paid to find his missing turkey? Thanks Giving was ages away for crying out loud. Only Naruto remained unmoved by their stupid mission.
Naruto stood up from his sitting position. "Do we go as a group or do we go single?"
"Single! Faster that way." Kakashi said and watched as Naruto disappeared before his eyes. The other two then followed. Kakashi sighed, pulling his book of Icha Icha Paradise out. He reminded himself to find out the sudden change in Naruto. Not that his sudden productiveness was bad, but his silence was shocking and bit scary. Kakashi felt a tad bit sad as well, seeing the deadpanned expression on Naruto's face. He was suddenly becoming Sasuke.
Kakashi wanted his cheerful student back.
TBC