"N-Naruto-kun! You're hurting me!" Naruto was holding my hand, much too tight, while he was muttering in his sleep.

Kakashi-sensei, Naruto-kun, and I had either fallen asleep or drifted off while we were lying there. I'd gone to staring at the clouds above me and trying to figure out why Sasuke had to leave. And why he said thank you to me. What kind of good-bye was that?

"Naruto!" I shoved him lightly and shook his shoulder with the hand I had free. He was starting to stir but still seemed to be unaware of his surroundings or me shaking him.

"Kakashi-sensei! Wake him up!" He'd stayed with us, reading that book he always carried with him, being his old self.

"Stop shaking him."

I stopped and Kakashi pulled out a shuriken and threw it so it landed close to Naruto's head. I jumped a bit as it came closer but otherwise stayed still. Naruto must have sensed the shuriken flying at him because he went completely rigid as it came and sat up after it stopped.

I pulled my hand from his grasp and shook it to get some of the feeling back. "My God. It takes forever to wake you up!" I stared at my hand, wondering when the bruises would start to show up.

"Why did you wake me?!" He was angry at me for waking him even though he'd been having a nightmare.

"You were hurting me." I shied away from him for his anger scared me. "You… you seemed to like you were having a nightmare." I gave him a small smile, hoping he wouldn't be mad at me.

"Oh… right." His anger seemed to disappear leaving sorrow in its place.

Naruto nodded and stood, brushing the grass of the back of his pants. I watched every move he made, looking for something that would tell me what was wrong. I was always worried about him now. He was acting so much different now that Sasuke wasn't here. I always knew he didn't really hate Sasuke, but I didn't think Naruto-kun would change so much once he left.

"Can I walk you home, Sakura-chan?" His face looked so sad and pleading that I almost said yes.

"Um… no, not today." I scratched my head and started to walk away.

"P-please?" Naruto's voice sounded so small and scared, afraid of me saying no.

Kakashi-sensei stood up and walked away without saying a word. He waved a hand in farewell and disappeared in a cloud of white smoke.

"No." I said this with a little more force, trying to tell him that I really didn't want him to.

"Why?"

"Naruto…" I sighed and started again. "You worry me. Especially when you act like this. You're all sad and… and pleading and I don't like being around you when you're like that. It makes me feel bad and I'm afraid you won't get back to your old self. Okay, Naruto-kun?"

He nodded and started to walk past me trying to get away from anything else I might say. I stuck my arm out to stop him from getting away, at least for a few minutes. He stopped and turned to face me a, small smile upon his face.

"I'm okay. Really. It's just… you know." Naruto tried an even bigger smile but his eyes gave him away.

"What did you dream about?"

"I… I don't remember." I knew he was lying but I didn't push him to tell me. He would if he wanted to.

"Promise me something, okay, Naruto-kun?" I placed my hands on his shoulders and stepped a little closer.

The wind was starting to pick up, making both of us shiver. Brightly colored fall leaves were fluttering about with the occasional cherry blossom intertwined. My hair was flapping around my shoulders and Naruto's was moving ever so slightly.

"That depends. Tell me first." He looked at the way I had placed my hands on his shoulders and frowned. Naruto then realized that he really wasn't acting normal.

"P-promise me… promise me that you'll start acting normal again. Promise me that you won't let him leaving get to you and promise me that when you aren't acting normal you'll steer clear of me so that I don't get really worried. Or at least cover it up. Can you do that?" My vision was starting to blur so I wiped at me eyes, figuring out if I had started to cry or not.

"I can try." He gave me another small smile and pulled me into a hug. Something I'd never allow him to do on a normal basis but now I didn't mind.

I sobbed into his shoulder while he stroked my hair, trying to calm me. I wouldn't have minded if I had died right there because I was with someone I loved very much and he was happy. If Naruto-kun was happy I could try to be happy, too.

Maybe, just maybe, I could live a normal life without Sasuke.

Disclaimer:

If you recognize the character from the Naruto series then I don't own it! If you don't, then it's most likely mine.