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chapter nineteen

"He does this OFTEN?" Kakashi yelped, before shutting his mouth and praying to Kami Kushina wouldn't find him here.

Sasuke leaned back on the bed and crossed his legs. "Yeah. Usually at least once every week, sometimes less."

"Sasuke, he's disappearing and you didn't bother to find out where he's going!?" Kakashi asked, looking more stressed out, somehow.

"It's not my business what that dobe does in his freetime!" Sasuke sighed exasperatedly, flinging his hands into the air.

"Ugh," Kakashi rolled his eyes, running a hand through his hair. He threw his bead back and looked at the ceiling. "C'mon, you have to help me find him."

Sasuke groaned, but didn't disobey. He knew better. He slipped on his shoes, and followed Kakashi. "Are you gonna use the Ninken?" He asked, shutting the window quietly behind him. 

"Probably not, unless I need to."

So the two of them looked and looked for an hour, trying not to set off ninja alarms so they didn't get caught by Ibiki. They called for him using the telepathic connection, but he didn't answer. Sasuke rolled his eyes and said he must be asleep somewhere. Kakashi insisted he could've been killed. Finally, they stopped at Sakura's house to see if she's seen him, but before Kakashi opened the window, he stopped. Sasuke was behind him, and didn't see what he was waiting for.

When Kakashi turns around, the panic is gone, and a small smile replaced it. "False alarm."

"No shit," Sasuke hissed. Then he went to the window to check, because why in the hell is Naruto at Sakura's house in the middle of the night, and more importantly, why is Kakashi grinning about it?

Sasuke sighed in relief when they weren't doing anything obscene, then his eyes narrowed when he realized they were both curled rather tightly into each other. Sakura looked happy and peaceful for the first time in a while. Sasuke had checked on her while she was sleeping before, and she was almost always awake, her eyes haunted. She didn't sleep unless Sasuke directly saw her taking the pills she manufactured for him and Kakashi. Sasuke was too scared to go in and talk to her, because she often made it clear that they would never be as close as that. While he liked that she was finally resting, he didn't know what to think about the fact that Naruto was there.

He leaned back and looked at Kakashi. His sensei wiggled his eyebrows at him. "Jealous?" He asked challengingly.

"Oh, fuck off." Sasuke sighed. He knew it. Kakashi had already seen this, and he'd tricked Sasuke into coming to see it. Sasuke knew for a fact that his sensei desperately wanted him and Sakura to get together, and often provided some... unwanted encouragement. "Can't believe you made me look for the dobe for an hour for this." He gestured to the window and turned around to head back to Naruto's house before Aunt Kushina noticed him gone. Naruto could get grounded all he wanted, but Sasuke wasn't ready to surrender his freedoms just yet.

He muttered complaints all the way home, but when he got into bed, he didn't quite feel as tired as he was before he left.

Naruto woke up two hours before sunrise and stood up, stretching. Himself and Sakura had drifted so they were just laying close together. Naruto yawned, putting on his shoes, and opening Sakura's window. The way she was sleeping, she might finally get the full nine hours of sleep she's been needing.

Naruto grinned, happy. He'd seen how tired Sakura was, and was happy she could sleep now.

He shut the window behind him, and ran home. He opened his own window, and snuck off to his bed, but before he lay back down to sleep some more, he looked at Sasuke to see if he was okay, and almost had a heart attack. His friend was sitting criss cross on his bed, meditating. He hadn't even opened his eyes at Naruto's coming inside. Naruto narrowed his eyes, wondering if Sasuke hadn't simply fallen asleep like that, but something told him his friend was wide awake.