The afternoon sun beat down on the clearing; the strong aroma of burning filled the air as Naruto sat attempting to cook for the first time in his life. His diet of Ramen didn't exactly require a lot of cooking skills and lately he had just been living off takeaways and bar food. The silver haired ninja looked up from his orange book he was currently reading for the 312th time.
"That is probably done I'd say" he informed his companion who had been running around after him all day
"Uhh, yeah I knew that Sensei" Naruto flashed a sheepish smile back at the man who simply raised an eyebrow in response.
Naruto fumbled hurriedly, placing a very unappetising looking meal down in front of Kakashi
who eyed the plate wrinkling his nose slightly, his strong sense of smell was very offended by the plate in front of him. Pulling down his mask he tentatively took a small bite,
bleeehh he inwardly gagged. What was apparently a simple dish of rice and chicken tasted closer to something Pukkan would probably eat…if he was starving. Raising his eye to the young man in front of him he watched in awe as his blonde comrade wolfed down the meal greedily before burping a very loud disgusting burp.
"Boy, I didn't know I could cook eh Sensei" he grinned cheerily. Kakashi was speechless as Naruto went and dished himself another generous helping of the repulsive 'food'.
Raising another forkful to his mouth he gulped it down trying not to taste it, not wanting to offend the idiotic chef stuffing his face across from him.

"I'm going to go have a bath" Kakashi announced once he had somehow emptied his plate.
"Okay, do you need any help?" Naruto asked absentmindedly.
Kakashi made an odd choking sound; Naruto looked at him confused before going bright red.
"Oh, ya know cause your injured, not cause, forget it Sensei" he stuttered.
"I should be fine, thanks" said the now slightly pink Kakashi who was already walking off.

-

When he was well out of sight and earshot of his friend Kakashi stopped and looked around cautiously before summoning Pukkan.
"Hey boss" the stumpy little dog said "I'm afraid I have some bad news for you"
"What is it?"
"He's attacked again."
"Sasuke?" Kakashi questioned; his heart dropping.
"I'm afraid so" said the dog gravely. "..And the girls been killed, the one with the pink hair"
"not Sakura?"
"Yeah, that's the one."
"I see." Kakashi said drooping his head sadly.
"Anyway he is probably going to be attacking again shortly so our best bet is to go near the leaf, would you like me to sniff him out for you?"
"Yes, thank you Pukkan"
"Anytime boss"
Kakashi watched the dogs stubby legs scurry away.
Not Sakura he repeated to himself regretfully, his young student with the candy floss hair. For the first year he knew her the only word he had heard come out of her mouth was the man's name that ended up murdering her. How awful.
And how am I going to tell him? His thoughts drifted suddenly to the blonde dork who was only just starting to bounce back to his old idiotic self.
How the hell am I meant to tell Naruto she's dead? He's been through enough. Kakashi sighed, stretching out his long body and staring up at the evening sky.
Sighing deeply Kakashi knew he couldn't avoid it; he had to tell Naruto about the death of their former teammate.
Shoving his hands deeply in his pockets Kakashi trudged slowly back in the direction of the clearing, he stood looking through the trees at Naruto who was cheerfully washing up, humming an annoying tune to himself.
"Naruto", the silver haired ninja addressed sadly.
"What is it, Sensei?" Naruto grinned oblivious to Kakashis sudden change of mood.
Sitting down underneath a low hanging tree, Kakashi patted the ground next to him, his comrade bounced over obligingly and joined the man.
"What are you so serious about all of a sudden?" Naruto mocked, chuckling at his sensei.
"Naruto.. Its Sakura"
Kakashi watched his companions features drop from the cheerful smile and furrow into an expression of concern
"What about her?" he responded gravely.
"There was an attack on the village. She was killed unfortunately" It took a while for this information to digest, at first Naruto looked confused, then he looked like he didn't really believe what Kakashi was saying, he then looked down at the ground in sadness and Kakashi could see him attempt to hide the tears that were threatening to give him away.
Kakashi awkwardly reached out and placed a stiff hand on his shoulder comfortingly.
The young man looked into Kakashis eyes with an expression of realisation and hatred,
"Sasuke?" he simply growled. A slight nod in response was all that was needed for an answer.
Slamming his head into Kakashis chest taking him completely off guard Naruto sobbed bitterly, the older man was good at a lot of things but never thought much of his comforting skills. Never the less a gloved hand stroked blonde spiky hair for the next few hours while the pupil clung to his former sensei.
He sensed it was what Naruto needed, and perhaps even Kakashi himself on a night like this.

A/N. I apologize it's been a while! Working two jobs keeps me busy but I promise to keep writing as long as you keep reading. Review please! Love you all!
Cheers. Jorgiamk! xx