firstly, i am so so so sorry it tok me so long to update -dodges flying chairs- blame my art teacher!! lol, and if loads of people do my survey then the nxt upload will be in a matter of days (the more surveys the less time itll be... aww now i sound mean again :)

secondly, i want to make it very very clear that unless i get a LOT of reviews to the contrary, this is still a sasu/saku fic, give it time :D - and any kakashi fans... well, u can dream lol - hey if i get requests ill make one of them too but this isnt one so, sorry :)

again, the biggest of big thankyous to all of my reviewers who keep me writing when i lose all motivation and confidence :): yukibozu, torakama, Merridaine, starlit.kiss7, you.broke.a.promise, Gothic Saku-chan, cutegerbilofdeath, amy14, PiratexNinja, archerelf, angstar54, Aiyo rei, Kotone111, soojinyeh and TellerOfLies - you guys rock!!

and most of all dailyangel, this chappies dedicated to you and thanx for your help with it hehe, and because of why you dedicate chapters in the first place :) thanks very very much my friend :)

ok, sorry for all of that loyal readers...onwards!... :) (and a quick apology for the terrible title... hey by the end of the chap you'll see that it sort of fits... hahaha ah well lol...)

Masked Happiness

Chapter 6: Black Dots

Naruto led the way up the streets of Konoha with Sakura, Sasuke, and Kakashi trailing behind, lacking his enthusiasm, all deep in their thoughts. As Naruto practically ran up the street, he arrived at Ichiraku long before the others who didn't mind taking their time, so that, by the time they got there, Naruto was already in the middle of a very animated (A/N: sorry for the pun :D) conversation with an already exhausted Teuchi.

When Sasuke, Sakura and Kakashi walked up to them, a now very grateful Teuchi made his escape to the kitchens and Naruto turned his attention on his friends. Sakura and Kakashi saw his face seconds before he spoke and both silently swore.

'So what were you and sensei talking about before anyway?' he asked Sakura, covering his own slight worry for her that was ever-present lately with his overwhelming curiosity.

The unknown topic caught Sasuke's attention too, as he hated being out of the loop and he clearly was at the moment. All eyes on Sakura now, her mind went blank, 'crap, what do I say? Would it be too obvious to run? No, Naruto's like a puppy, he'd probably think I was playing and chase me… this isn't helping she thought as she fought the urge to giggle at the sudden mental image. Seeing all eyes on her again made her nervous and her hands started fidgeting as she tried and failed to think of something to say.

As the uncomfortable silence stretched longer and longer, Kakashi, who had also been at a complete loss which was why he hadn't helped earlier, smiled and said,

'Well you see, the twists and turns of life bring some unusual…'

'Liar!' Naruto said purely out of habit.

'Ok, ok, I called her into my office because she finishes her work faster than anyone else in class and I wanted to talk about giving her some harder work to do.'

Sakura looked at Kakashi gratefully as Naruto grudgingly decided to believe him and Sasuke just sat and stared into space, thinking.

Earlier that day Sasuke, who had been getting some books from his locker and had been more than a little irritated to find Naruto gone from the nurses office whilst apparently under the her self proclaimed 'watchful eye', had only caught the tail-end of the conversation and awkwardness that occurred when Naruto burst into Kakashi's office. Realising he knew the least of all of them in the situation annoyed him (and seriously stung his Uchiha pride), especially annoyed at how much it piqued his own curiosity and, though he would never admit it, concern. A few minutes later they all got their ramen and began eating.

'Damn nurse… I'll give her a watchful eye…' Sasuke was grumbling inaudibly and trying not to subconsciously activate his sharingan as Naruto and Kakashi began a normal conversation about training (and who was winning between Naruto and Sasuke). Kakashi listened as Naruto spoke and ate (at the same time… loudly), whilst Sasuke argued with him every so often. In other words, a normal dinner with Team 7.

'And then I grabbed his arm…slurp…and he was SO SLOW! Slurp… and I totally won, believe it! Sluuurp…'

'Hn, if you call lying face down in the dirt winning, dobe'

'What'd you say teme?! I totally won and you know it!'

'Sit down Naruto'

'But sensei…' Naruto whined

'No buts Naruto, beat each other up tomorrow in training, but right now were eating' Kakashi said as he looked at the three of them, well most of us are eating he thought and frowned to himself when he saw Sakura's uneaten ramen.

Sakura had stopped listening a while ago as she absent-mindedly stirred her ramen with her chopsticks, bringing some noodles out of the bowl every so often before setting them back down so that those who weren't really paying attention would think she was eating. Unfortunately for her, someone was paying attention. As she continued to play with her food, Kakashi stayed silent and Sakura, still half listening to Naruto's shouts and Sasuke's irritated voice didn't notice the single eye watching her.

This time after their meal, Sasuke and Naruto were arguing too much to notice the still full bowl of ramen left behind and Kakashi didn't say anything, so Sakura didn't need to think of an excuse. Thank goodness, I'm way too tired to come up with a good one tonight, they'd never have believed me she thought. Stumbling so slightly she thought only she noticed, she decided she desperately needed to get home before falling asleep so she said goodnight to Kakashi, Naruto and Sasuke and began walking home.

As she walked up the street alone with only the moon to guide her she felt slightly light-headed for a second and staggered before it passed and she felt fine again. She didn't feel scared because even though she was well aware that she was a girl, alone, at night, she had walked home alone at night many times before and lived in a relatively safe neighbourhood, so she wasn't concerned about that. She was starting to feel a little uneasy at how she was feeling though. The further she went, the more she was stumbling and tripping until eventually she felt so dizzy that she had to stop and lean against one of the trees dotted up the street.

She shut her eyes as black dots swam in and out of vision, making her feel sick as she tried to get her breath back. As she leant against the tree with her eyes shut she thought she sensed something nearby but she didn't know what and was finding it hard enough to concentrate on staying conscious, so she ignored it. After a few minutes she still felt exhausted and since some of the dizziness had gone she slowly began to start walking home again.

She had walked for only a few minutes before the dizziness struck again and she felt like crying out in frustration because she had another ten minute walk before she would be home. She stopped abruptly as she suddenly felt like she was underwater and grasped her head in both hands as the world began to spin before her eyes. Suddenly she felt it again. Something… no, someone was coming closer. Dammit, why now, I'm too dizzy to fight she thought desperately as her rising panic did nothing to help her battle against her inevitable black-out, only making her more lightheaded and causing the black dots to reappear. Just as she vaguely sensed the person in front of her and looked up waiting in vain for her eyes to adjust, she only saw a flash of silver before the black dots consumed her vision and she felt her body begin to crumple, as though it was falling in on itself. Feeling strong arms grab her before she hit the ground, she finally lost the already weak grasp she had on consciousness.

aww, did i leave u on a cliffy again? - im sorry, -dangles next chapter above ur head- like i said, more reviews, less time :D - i know im mean :) - please please PLEASE do it for me though (its for my art class and i desperately need as many as possible for a massive essay...please?... feel free to do it more than once too lol :) -- it wont take long, most of the answers are yes/no ones, only the bottom ones need more than that and its ok to not write much there, but as much as possible is very very helpful to me so please? -- either pm me with it or you could put it in a review... personally i suggest pm-ing it but whichever way you want is fine :) and hope u enjoyed the chapter :)... and btw the next ones longer too to make up for the tinyness of this one :D

thanks for reading :)