𝐀𝐃𝐃𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐃 ★彡 ᵏ.ʰᵃᵗᵃᵏᵉ

➙ 𝘹𝘪. 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴

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SLEEP OVERTOOK the household for another night. The pairings for bunks remained the same as the previous night, however, Kakashi had so graciously offered the futon mattress to Yuri since he had recovered slightly and had slept on it last night while she chose the wooden floor for her resting place. But it was proving difficult.

"Yuri. Take the mattress." Kakashi grumbled behind his mask. He had already ditched his uniform to don his sleeping attire, as well as Yuri and the rest of the ninja in the room.

Yuri stood across from him on the other side of the mattress with her arms crossed over her chest. "You take it. You're still on one crutch. You're hardly recovered."

With a sigh, Kakashi peered at the young woman opposite him in disbelief. "You can't be serious."

"I am."

The two bickered for a while as their squads watched impatiently, trying to go to sleep.

"Would you two knock it off?!" Naruto finally yelled over the pestering argument between Kakashi and Yuri. The two jōnin looked over at the tired-looking boy with furrowed brows. "We want to sleep so shut it!"

Yuri tutted in anger as she shot Kakashi a glare. " You really need to teach him some manners." She grumbled under her breath as she crawled under the covers of the futon mattress. The white-haired man sighed with delight that the small dispute was over and proceeded to lie down on the hard cold floor. Without any pillows, it was rather uncomfortable, especially since he had to hold his arm in the air to read his book.

Yuri rolled her eyes at the display and tossed him one of her pillows which he gratefully took and slipped under his head. Though he smugly smirked at the action which caused Yuri to groan and turn her back to him, he was surprised by her generosity.

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THE SUN rose in the brightening sky as morning settled amongst the village. One by one, each ninja rose from their mattresses and headed to the kitchen. Naruto was first but he was nowhere to be found in the house. Next was Yuri and Kakashi. Then Yaragi, then Sezaki. After them, it was Sasuke and Doremi. Finally, Sakura emerged from the bedroom to join the rest of the household for breakfast.

"Good morning everyone," the pink-haired girl yawned.

"Naruto's not here. Looks like he was out all night." Tazuna spoke.

"He's gone crazy," Doremi said after gulping down her food. "Climbing trees in the dark. He's probably dead by now." She shrugged as Yuri slapped the side of her head, disapprovingly.

Tsunami approached the table, offering more food for her guests. "Well, I certainly hope he's all right. A child out in the woods at night," she tutted to herself.

"There's nothing to worry about. Naruto's a goofy kid but he's also a fully-fledged ninja." Kakashi reassured the naturally worried mother. "He can handle himself."

Sasuke shook his head. "Doremi's right. Naruto's such a loser. He's probably lying out there dead somewhere." Then, he stood and made his way to the front door.

"Sasuke?" Sakura called out.

"I'm going for a walk." His tone was rude and condescending towards the girl, the sort a grumpy husband would use toward his 'overbearing' wife.

Sakura furrowed her brows. "But we just started eating?" She looked down at his plate to find it cleared. "That was fast."

"That guy is creepy." Yaragi shuddered, his voice trembling as he did as if someone had stepped over his grave.