Another Accidental Kiss

Worry

After his encounter with Ino, Sasuke finally managed to reach the training grounds they were assigned to. Sakura was already there, and she greeted Sasuke with a hearty hello.

"Heya, Sasuke! Looks like it's just the two of us here, huh?" She giggled, her cheeks turning red. Sasuke rolled his eyes and stood about 5 steps away from her. He looked around and didn't see Naruto standing anywhere. Was he late?

"Do you know where Naruto is?" He asked, a hint of worry in his voice. Sakura huffed and folded her arms.

"Why do you care? Wouldn't it be great if he didn't show up at all?" She said in a sassy, snarky tone. Sasuke shook his head at her.

"He's still our teammate and he still can help us get through whatever Kakashi decides to put us through today." Sasuke avoided eye contact with her. "Besides, he's been getting... better." He said in a hushed tone. Sakura raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't catch that, what? He's been getting better?" She questioned. Sasuke scoffed, not wanting to say it again. Not wanting to admit it to himself again that Naruto had made a home in his mind. He didn't answer her, which was a normal occurrence.

More time passed. No Naruto. Sasuke became increasingly more worried. Sakura had already plopped herself down beside a tall tree, taking advantage of the shade.

"Man, you'd think that Kakashi sensei would at least be a little early on a hot day like this. And where's Naruto? He would usually be here by now. Maybe he slept in, idiot." She talked to herself, since she subconsciously knew Sasuke wasn't going to respond. He started to subtly bite his nails, starting to consider going out to look for him. What if he was hurt? What if he was... no. There's no way. Sasuke sighed again and took his headband off. Sakura was right, it was hot. He wiped some of the sweat off with his cloth bracer and tied the headband around his arm, like Shikamaru. Sakura watched him do this. She was surprised he cracked under the heat, but kept her comment to herself.

Another 30 minutes passed.

"Sasuke, do you think they're in serious trouble or anything? Maybe we should–" Sasuke cut her off. "I'm going. You need to stay here and wait just in case. We both know that I'm the better shinobi, and I'll be able to defend myself better if something captured Naruto or..." he trailed off, not wanting to think of the latter option. Sakura put on a worried expression, but reluctantly nodded her head in agreement.

"Well... okay. Here." She reached into her backpack and pulled out a few ointments, a couple of extra kunai, and a bento box. "You might need these. Who knows what could happen, and–" Sasuke cut her off, once again.

"I know. Thank you, Sakura." He simply put. Her cheeks turned a peachy color as she gave him a small smile. Sasuke put Sakura's supplies into his backpack, and started taking a trail out of the training area. The next course of action was... nothing. He didn't think he would do this.

If  I were Naruto, where would I be... He thought to himself, visualizing every possible place Naruto would visit. After a minute or so, he came up with his first destination.

The Sakura blossoms, where they shared a kiss a couple days before.