Hello! Here is a new story, with slightly shorter chapters, that is a little different than my 'normal' writing. I hope you like it. Please leave a review!
"Sakura-chan," Kakashi was looking at her so kindly with his single eye. "Why are you crying?"
The girl's face was screwed up, red, cheeks stained with tear tracks. Why was she crying? "I-I…" she didn't want to say it. It was so stupid. "I was supposed to be the one to catch the fish for dinner tonight."
The softness of his visible features twisted in apparent confusion. "Sakura-chan, Naruto and Sasuke always-"
"I know they always catch the fish. B-but how am I supposed to get any better at it if no one l-lets me try?"
"I didn't know you were so passionate about your survival skills." Kakashi said gently, but the confused quirk to his brow remained. "Well, why don't we have you cook the fish for us tonight instead?"
"I always cook the fish!" she yelled, she was frowning and breathing hard. "Is it because I'm the girl and girls are supposed to cook? I wanted to catch the fish!"
Kakashi's single eye widened marginally. "Okay, okay," he looked around their camp. "Do you want to gather kindling instead?"
She was about to point out to him that finding sticks in the forest was not at all equitable to catching food, but Sasuke and Naruto stepped into their small camp at that moment.
"Kakashi-nii, why is Sakura-chan crying?" Naruto asked before swerving on Sasuke. "What did you do to make Sakura-chan cry you bastard?"
"Idiot," Sasuke sighed, tossing a bundle of fish towards Kakashi. "I was with you the entire time, it's not my fault that she's crying." He glanced over at his female teammate though, noting the distress painted too obviously on her face. "What're you crying about now?" he asked, clearly tired with her more open displays of emotion.
"Sasuke-"
"You bastard!" Kakashi moved to scold him, but Naruto beat him to the literal punch. "Don't you dare talk to Sakura-chan like that! You have no idea what she's going through."
"She's literally sitting around being useless. At least you and I caught some dinner."
Kakashi opened his mouth again, but Sakura darted up and stalked over to Kakashi to grab the bundle of fish out of his hands.
"I'll cook the damn things." She attempted to say it with venom but the hiccup that interrupted the sentence undermined any vitriol she intended with the statement.
When she bent over to get the fish, she heard Sasuke and Naruto inhale sharply. "Sakura, why is there so much blood on you? Are you hurt, is that why you're crying?" Sasuke's bloodline sharpened as he noted the blood on the back of her dress.
"Blood?!" she squeaked, flushing crimson she tried to cover the bloodstain as she twisted away from the boys. Sasuke's sharingan eyes were wide with concern, but Naruto's blue eyes were trying to convey something different.
"Sakura-chan-" Kakashi started to speak, but she squeaked again, realizing she had twisted away from the boys and showed the stain to her teacher. Shame flooded over her along with more tears, and before anyone could stop her, she ran off into the woods.
The boys stood silent for a heartbeat before Sasuke moved to go after her. Naruto shifted to grab his wrist and stop him before he could move.
"Let me go idiot." Sasuke bit out shortly. "Sakura's hurt, she needs help."
Naruto shook his head. "She's not hurt."
"That was a lot of blood," Kakashi said gently, but when Naruto's blue eyes glared at him, he sucked in a breath. "Well shit," Kakashi said, rubbing at his temples and closing his eyes.
"And you all say I'm the idiot." Naruto muttered.
"You are the idiot," Sasuke shot back, trying to tug his hand out of Naruto's grip. "Now let me go, I need to help her."
Kakashi didn't bother to mention Sasuke's interesting choice of words, instead just shook his head. "No, Naruto is right. She's not hurt."
"You saw the blood!" Sasuke insisted, starting to get irritated with how many damn words he had to use to convince his team their teammate needed help.
"I'll go talk to her." Naruto stated confidently. He dropped Sasuke's wrist, grabbed his pack and Sakura's before stalking off after her. "I'll shout if anything goes wrong."
Kakashi grunted an agreement and Sasuke stared after the blond with his jaw hanging open. "You're just going to let him go?"
"He at least recognized what was going on." Kakashi shot back, turning his attention to the bundle of fish. Sasuke started to complain but Kakashi shook his head. "Go gather the kindling, from the opposite direction that your teammates went." Kakashi scolded as Sasuke shifted to follow after his team before scowling at being caught and grudgingly shuffled in the opposite direction.
"You're a dick." He muttered after passing his teacher.
"And you're not as smart as you think you are."