Much Too Early; Much Too Late.

It was almost as though the moonlight was leading her towards her destination, though the finale was beyond her reckoning. She felt like she was being watched, but she summed it up to the full moon. Besides, it wasn't uncommon for a guard or two to be up on the roofs, around the corners, watching for anything odd around town just in case. If she was seen, they knew who she was and wouldn't care what she was doing. She was Haruno Sakura! She was popular now, and revered. She was smart, and strong, and Tsunade-sama was her Master. Throwing her shoulders back, Sakura walked calmly towards she-didn't-know-what.

It was a nice night, with minimal wind and a warm haze hanging over the city. The next day was going to be a scorcher, and she wondered what, if any, training Tsunade-sama was going to assign her. Hopefully it would be in the hospital instead of her office; the hospital had central air conditioning, whereas Tsunade-sama's office had windows. Lots, and lots, and lots of windows. They let the heat in and no matter how many fans Sakura had going, they only blew the hot air around, hardly allowing a cooler air to take hold. Yes, she would request to be put in the hospital tomorrow, but it would hardly fool Tsunade-sama because at the end of the day, Tsunade-sama was in charge of Sakura and would never allow her to feel any comfort when there was training and work to be done.

It didn't help that she would be tired. There would probably be another report, too, which would make her feel achy and even more tired, and yet her brain would stay on alert and restless during the night, only to betray her the next day and feel sluggish and tired again.

Sakura suddenly looked up.

It was both too early and too late, so she doubted that Naruto would be awake; why did her feet lead her to his apartment? There was something inside her that felt she needed to talk to him, maybe needed his comforting yet playful and naive words to wash her ears out.

His window was dark, so she knew he was asleep. One time, she had walked past his apartment on a night mission and saw his light on; he was sitting in front of his open window, staring forlornly out, his blue eyes deep and solemn until he spotted Sakura on the street below him. His face lit up with its usual brightness and playfulness and he waved, calling her name. She called back before saying goodbye, but for the rest of that mission, his deep eyes stayed in her mind. She never really put much thought into how sad he really was, about how alone he really was. She couldn't imagine the thoughts that passed through his mind, or the emotions he felt in his heart during his quiet hours.

She ran up the stairs, thinking about what she would say, if she even dared to knock. The chances of him even waking up were slim to none, as she knew from missions with him that he was a deep sleeper and only woke to the light. She could have tossed him out his window and he wouldn't have realized it until the sun hit his face.