Sakura awoke to Yamato spooning her, and although it was a bit of a deterrent to her movement, she smiled. It was nice to feel his presence there.

"Naruto came in the middle of the night," he whispered into her shoulder. Sakura groaned and rolled over. "You were asleep."

Sakura grinned. "Well, you wore me out, captain," she purred, trailing a dexterous finger over his lips. Yamato blushed, and he stammered uselessly as Sakura climbed on top of him. "You really surprised me last night," she chuckled. "You were practically an animal."

He felt a problem arising, and he felt his self-restraint waning. "Are you all right?" he asked breathlessly, and Sakura smiled.

"Who do you take me for?"

With a growl, Yamato flipped her over and nipped at her neck, making Sakura squeal.

Obito awoke after a night of no dreams on a soft bed and soft pillows. He had almost expected to be drooling on the cold floor of his jail cell just to find this all a sad smack to reality. But no, this was real.

He was startled by the knock on his door. He scrambled to get up, and Kakashi came in. "You awake, Obito?"

"I am now," Obito grumbled. "Why are you waking me up so early?"

Kakashi scoffed. "I'm no early riser, but it is already three in the afternoon."

Obito scowled. "I don't believe you." He headed to the window and opened the blinds. It truly was afternoon, and the people were outside, bustling with life. Kakashi was right.

"Let's go."

"Go where, Kakashi?"

"Out."

Obito looked at him like he was stupid. "I have to be monitored."

"I'll monitor you," Kakashi replied.

"That's ridiculous, you're not that great." Kakashi raised an eyebrow at that statement.

"Although that may be so, you have been stripped of your chakra. You're not going to be of much trouble to me, no offense."

Obito was forced out of the house in Kakashi's clothes, and he was ushered into a barbershop. "I think you could use a haircut," Kakashi said, and Obito had to agree.

"Not too short," he told the barber, and the man agreed, snipping away all the gross and unkempt strands. When he was done, Obito's face was far more visible, and he felt a giant weight lifted off his head. He promptly got out of the chair, and Kakashi sighed.

"Thank you," he said, slipping the barber a tip.

Obito was excited, though he wouldn't admit it. He wasn't smiling, but it was quite clear to see from the brightness in his eyes. They went to the market and Obito looked at all the food intently. Kakashi remembered that he had a fondness for shuumai. He was eying the stall selling them with lust in his eyes. "You want some?" he asked.

"I'm fine," Obito lied. Kakashi chuckled and paid the vendor. "I said I was fine!"

"Just take it."

They headed back to the apartment. Fifth floor, nineteenth unit. "I'll be heading out to a mission," Kakashi said, re-enabling the ankle monitor system. "It'll be with my genin team. I'll be out for a few days. There's money on the table." He wrote down a number on a piece of paper. "Call this number if you need anything."

"Who is that?"

"That's Gai's number. He's friendly," Kakashi murmured, a little too friendly.

"What am I supposed to do?" Obito demanded, getting up from the chair. Kakashi shrugged.

"There's a TV. Entertain yourself." With that he was gone.

Naruto needed someone to talk to. His encounter with Sasuke had left him more drained than he thought it would. He needed a friend. Since Sakura was busy…with Yamato, he really had no one else. Maybe that guy… No, Naruto had ignored him for far too long. He couldn't even be considered a good friend now, not after how Naruto had treated him.

"N-Naruto-kun, where are you off to?" Hinata's cute voice called out. Naruto turned around and smiled. She was always so nice to him without reason. He loved people like Hinata.

"Yes, Naruto-kun, where are you going?" Naruto gulped at the sound of his voice.

"What are you two doing together?" he asked Sai and Hinata, smiling widely.

"We just finished a mission together," Hinata said softly, cocking her head to the side. "We were about to get some dinner, w-would you like to join?"

Naruto tried to read Sai's face. He just had that same old smile as always; he was practically a blank slate.

"I think I will go!"

They all walked around the town. Naruto eyed Ichiraku's, and Hinata was quite insistent on going there. However, he noticed that Sai was looking at the new restaurant that was quieter and more peaceful. "Hey, Hinata-chan, let's go in there." She seemed surprised but agreed.

Naruto and Hinata made surprisingly cheerful and deep conversation. She had seemed to gain a bit more confidence, and that made him really happy for her. Hopefully she would carry that with her everywhere.

When they were done with dinner, Sai excused himself, and although it was strange, Naruto could have swore that Sai had a hint of irritation flash across his face. Naruto shrugged it off and continued talking to Hinata, promising to walk her home. It wasn't as if she was in danger, but it was the gentlemanly thing to do.

"I always forget you live at the Hyuga compound," Naruto thought aloud.

"Y-yes it's easy to forget, I'm not like them," she giggled. She inclined her head a bit. "Thank you for walking me home. I-I'd love to do this again."

Naruto grinned. "I'd love that too. You're a great friend."

Once Naruto started walking away, Hinata sighed, a little fallen.

It had been two days. Obito was getting desperate. He didn't realize how much he desired human contact nowadays. So he did something he knew he would regret. He called Gai.

The moment Gai came into the apartment he was obnoxiously loud. Obito was shocked by how easily Gai forgave. He smelled the food that Gai carried in with him under his arm. "Yoooo!" Gai called out boisterously. "Long time no see, Obito!"

"…hello."

"Let's eat!" He slammed down the food on the table and politely and enthusiastically pulled out Obito's chair for him. Obito hesitantly sat down and began to eat.

"So, you've been missing Kakashi, eh?"

Obito sputtered out the food he was eating, and he stammered out a response of unintelligible jumbo. "I don't know what you're talking about! Not that jerk!"

"Ah, just like old days!" Gai chuckled. "What a bashful, youthful man you are." He slammed down a glass of sake. "It's okay to miss him; I miss him too sometimes." He was teary eyed. "My best friend and rival, gone for so long."

Obito rolled his eyes and gulped down water, trying to hide the flush arising on his face.

"Kai, stop it with the bugs! It's gross." Kenta squirmed away from his Aburame teammate. Chiharu was squealing with discomfort as the bugs crawled over her body. Kenta continued to screech on and on, and Kakashi sighed. This was getting old. Thank god they would be back in Konoha by the afternoon.

He wondered how Obito was faring.

Somewhere in the night, Obito had fallen asleep while Gai was jabbering away. He awoke to a blanket covering his shoulders and a "nice guy" note from the man. He stared at the clock. 6 AM. It was too early to be up. He groaned and rolled over, falling back asleep.

He had fitful dreams. First, he was fighting. There it was, Rin's dead body. He killed so many people; he didn't even know he was capable of that.

Next, Kakashi was home. Obito followed him into the bedroom and fell asleep right by him.

Kakashi sorted out everything with his team. He got them back home to their parents, still arguing, wrote and delivered the mission report, and he returned to his apartment. Obito was asleep on the couch, and Kakashi chuckled. He took a quick shower and headed to bed.

What he did not expect was to feel a body settle in beside him. He turned slowly and saw Obito's sleepy face. Kakashi's eyes widened. He was still asleep! He almost laughed, but he did not want to disturb the other.

Kakashi reveled in the serenity that was painted on Obito's face. He had never seen him like this, and Kakashi felt his heart oddly skip a beat. It was strange. He hadn't felt this way in quite a while.

He liked it.

Naruto was seeing Sai and Hinata on a more frequent basis. He had even been assigned a short mission with them. It was a simple tracking mission, no stress.

He had been talking to Hinata quite a bit more. She was touching him on his shoulder, laughing at his dumb jokes. It was comforting, but something felt off about it. He was sure that he was imagining the weird looks in Sai's eyes.

When Hinata fell asleep, he sat down next to Sai.

"It's been a while since we've talked, buddy?" Naruto smiled and nudged Sai's shoulders.

Sai's eyes were filled with something strange. "Indeed, it has. How has life been treating you, Naruto-kun?"

"It's been…strange. I've gone to visit Sasuke a couple times, but you know how he is."

Sai's eyebrow lifted. "How is he?"

"His usual emo self. Not really worth going into." Naruto mentally smacked himself. Someone was offering to talk to him about this, and he was rejecting it. Even Hinata had not offered, and they had been talking nonstop for hours.

Sai was no longer smiling. "I am not a good reader of emotions, but I feel that something is wrong." He turned his head away. "If you need to, I am willing to talk to you."

Naruto felt his heart twist in his chest.

sorry about such a long wait! I've been so busy with college. I hope you liked it.