Disclaimer: I do not own "Naruto" or any affiliated characters; all such belong to Masashi Kishimoto. :)

Chapter Four

"Are you sure you don't want to start setting up camp?"

"If you ask me that one more time, so help me God..."

Naruto laughed nervously and lifted both hands in the universal 'I'm harmless' motion, side-stepping a few more feet away from Sakura and her stormy expression. She knew he only asked because she'd been unable to stifle the past couple of yawns, but damn, she wasn't a new Genin on her first mission! She knew her limitations and, damn it, she wasn't at them yet.

"It's just that you seem tired," Naruto began, glancing at her with concern. "I bet you didn't get to bed early enough last night." This time he looked at her pointedly and she sniffed, pointing her nose in the air and crossing her arms over her chest.

"I don't think it's any of your business," she replied snootily, though she snuck a glance at him from the corner of her eye. His expression darkened almost unperceptively before his lips turned upward into a smirk. Sakura frowned to herself; why had his initial reaction been something akin to anger? She wasn't his responsibility, after all; she could make the decision to work late before having to get up early for a mission...it may have been a stupid decision, but it was still hers to make!

"You may be right," Naruto agreed, nodding his head in her direction. "But, as Captain of our team, it's your responsibility to make sure you're in top shape before the mission starts. I can't have my only teammate and medic slipping up on the job because she failed to follow protocol and get adequate rest before our mission's start." He looked at her meaningfully and she growled halfheartedly, assuming he was joking. A good look in his eyes told her immediately he was not. She quirked a brow; since when had Naruto become so...responsible?

At her lack of immediate response, Naruto shrugged and continued, "Once we find a good clearing, we'll set up." It wasn't a request. This time Sakura did growl, and loudly. Naruto blatantly ignored her and walked ahead, leading the way.

'Damn it. I hate to admit it, but he's right; I'm shirking my Captain duties by starting on a mission improperly prepared. Still…he's not usually so irritable.' She thought dejectedly, frowning at the blonde's black and orange clad back. It was unlike her friend to treat her so coolly; the Naruto that she was used to would have been ecstatic to be on a long-term mission for just the two of them. He'd have teased her that it was Tsunade-sama's way of forcing them into a date or something similar. Instead, he was distant and quiet save for a few glimpses of his usual personality.

'Maybe he's angry with you for what happened to Moegi...' the thought flitted through her mind before she even knew where her thoughts had led. She grimaced. She wouldn't be surprised; he had become very close to Konohamaru's squad over the years and she was supposed to be one of Konoha's best medic nins. He'd probably held her in high esteem and now she'd let him down by allowing one of his friends' teammates die...

Konohamaru himself wasn't speaking to her; she didn't think it was out of hostility but more the rawness of the grief still gripping his heart. It had only been a month, after all; not long in the scheme of things. She didn't blame him if he was unable to forgive her; she doubted she'd ever forgive herself. What good was she if she couldn't even save—?

"Sakura," Naruto's voice cut sharply through the darkness of her thoughts. Sakura's gaze shot up to meet his blue eyes, so distant and closed off. He raised a blonde brow at her and repeated, "Here looks good to me. What do you think?"

So now she had a say in the matter? Sakura kept her smirk to herself; at least he wasn't completely angry with her as to disregard her opinion. She gazed around the clearing and nodded in agreement before they began to set up camp in silence.

Once the tent was up and the campfire lit, both made themselves comfortable, Naruto lying on his back, stargazing, while Sakura stared into the flames as though they held the secret to life. They were quiet until Naruto finally murmured, "You hungry?"

"I guess," was Sakura's reply, her eyes still focused on the flames licking the air. She heard Naruto shift and rummage through one of his packs before reflexively catching the item he tossed at her. Breaking her gaze from the fire, she looked down to find a MRE. Her nose scrunched up in distaste and she looked to Naruto questioningly. She found him grinning at her, munching on an apple.

"I'd rather cook from scratch," Sakura told him dryly, throwing the MRE at him and clonking him on the head with it. He laughed, seemingly back to himself, and replaced the item into the bottom of his pack. He wiggled his eyebrows at her and she grinned, finally relaxing.

"I wouldn't complain if some fish were to magically appear..." he trailed off suggestively, finishing off his apple and tossing the core over his shoulder. Sakura narrowed her eyes at him playfully and replied, "And I suppose you also wouldn't mind if I were the one to help that wish come true?" At his unabashed grin she shook her head, hiding her own smile, and stood, dusting off the seat of her pants.

"Oh, alright, but only because I'm hungry and fish sounds really good right now," she agreed, stalking off towards the creek they had come upon earlier to wash off and spear some dinner.

Naruto watched her retreating back and breathed out a sigh of relief. He knew she'd noticed he'd been acting strangely around her; he hadn't meant to, but the sheer proximity was killing him. He didn't know how he was going to get any rest tonight having to sleep in the same tent as her. He was tempted to simply sleep outside but, for one, the temperature was rapidly dropping since autumn had decided to arrive a bit earlier this year, and secondly…he was kind of secretly excited about the prospect of sleeping so near his life-long crush. It was a constant tug-of-war to keep his composure even remotely respectable; if he had to be somewhat distant for that to happen, so be it. He'd made a fool of himself over his infatuation with her enough times to last the rest of his life; for once, he was trying to be respectful of her feelings, even if it cost him.

He gazed into the fire, wondering what it was she had been seeing as she'd done the same thing earlier.

XxXxXxX

'More...you should have...done more...why didn't you do more? Why didn't you save her?! Why are you so worthless?! You can't do anything right...only get in everyone's way...
Useless.
Useless!'

Sakura whimpered in her sleep, enfolding her body into a tight fetal position as her doubts and long-buried self-loathing attacked her through her dreams in the image of Naruto. A tear trailed down her cheek, unnoticed as it escaped and then was swept away by a gentle finger.

Naruto lay on his stomach, head resting on one of his arms as he slowly brought the other back towards his body after wiping away the salty droplet. He watched Sakura's features sadly, unsure of what he could do to ease her pain. It was tempting to wake her, but he knew she wouldn't appreciate knowing he was seeing her like this. He tucked his hand under his chin in an effort not to touch her again and settled for studying her instead.

She was huddled into herself, scrunching her body as tightly together as she could get it, muscles tense and defensive against the onslaught of her subconscious. Her hair was plastered against her neck and forehead with sweat despite the cold air surrounding them outside of their sleeping-bags. Her eyes were screwed shut tightly, her mouth set in a grim line that was sometimes broken only when she began to knead her bottom lip with her teeth in distress. Her fists clenched and unclenched at random, nails biting into the skin of her palms while her feet periodically kicked at the confines of her sleeping-bag as though she were trying to run from whatever nightmare plagued her.

Naruto closed his eyes against the scene, flipping over onto his back. He attempted to block out the sounds from his sleeping companion while images of her troubled face plagued his mind. He tossed and turned for a while, willing himself to sleep and escape the building need to pull her close to him and calm her; finally, after hours of restlessness, he opted for leaving the small confines of their tent to get some fresh air.

Stepping from the warmth of his sleeping-bag and into the frigid night air sent chills racing over every inch of exposed skin, but he ignored the minor discomfort by pacing around their camp, his mind unforgiving in its effort to tempt him into racing back to Sakura to sooth and comfort her however he could.

Cursing under his breath, he finally paused near the remaining embers of their campfire to stare up into the night sky, seeking comfort and resolve in the stars.

'This is going to be a long mission,' he thought with a frown, scrubbing a hand over his face before running it through his already messy hair. His cerulean eyes studied the stars, finding little comfort in their twinkling forms as he wondered how he was going to effectively complete the mission when his emotions were so out of control. Normally he could hide these things behind a grin and a laugh, but not this time; Sakura knew him too well and, well, she was the source of his issues. Even if she asked what his problem was, he couldn't answer honestly.

"Fuck!" he snarled, turning away from the stars and pacing around the campfire embers. Little sounds of frustration found their way from his throat without his notice, imitating growls; he paced like a caged beast, a feeling completely at odds with the spacious forest around him.

He didn't know how long he had been outside of the tent before his antics must have roused his teammate, but suddenly a quiet voice called, "Naruto?"

He stopped his pacing and glanced over his shoulder towards the tent and the object of his frustrations. His expression softened as he took in Sakura's disheveled appearance; her bedhead, fuzzy and tickling her cheeks, her sleepy eyes that still hadn't quite managed to take in the extent of the scene before her, her slightly glossy skin from the nightmare-induced sweat cooling in the frosty air. Her green eyes met his questioningly and he nearly groaned with the emotions coursing through him at that utterly vulnerable look.

"Are you okay?" she trailed off and Naruto answered with the first thing that came to mind.

"Just needed to use the bathroom," he replied to her question and grinned slightly as she wrinkled her nose in feminine distaste. But, as he had intended, it threw her off enough to rid her eyes of the vulnerability that was so disarming to him and she snorted slightly.

"Well, if you're done, come back to bed before you catch a cold," she said simply, disappearing again behind the tent flap. Naruto groaned quietly at her choice of words; come back to bed...yeah, if only he could do that the way he wanted to—snuggled up next to her. But he obeyed, returning to his sleeping-bag quietly. Sakura was in hers again, facing away from him, though by her breathing he could tell she wasn't asleep yet.

"Good night, Sakura-chan." He said quietly, shifting to get comfortable. Sakura was silent a moment longer before replying, "Good night, Naruto."

Quick notes:
1.) I didn't forget the "-chan" when Naruto addressed Sakura about setting up camp in the clearing. You'll find that I have him drop the suffix from her name at times when he's being entirely serious or needs to get her attention.
2.) MRE = Meal, Ready-to-Eat.

Hope you enjoyed! Apologies if this fic seems to be dragging on...I'll try to get them into some form of action soon! Until then, thanks for reading! R&R is always appreciated and loved! ^^

~Miah-Chan