Am I Dreaming?

Chapter Three

When Naruto Uzumaki entered the room, Kakashi had to suppress the urge to start rubbing at his temples prematurely. With the boys obnoxiously loud orange jumpsuit and the way his voice carried before even entering the room (he could hear him talking from down the hall). Kakashi knew he would be grasping at his wits end fighting off a headache.

Still, he had a job and duty to carry out.

“When was the last time you heard from Miss Haruno?” Kakashi starts off after they finish up their pleasantries and greetings. The carefree smile on the blond’s face fell as soon as the word ‘Haruno’ sounded from Kakashi’s lips. A solemn expression came over him and the air in the room shifted almost instantaneously.

“When we were all parting ways from my family's house in the woods, but I already told you that.” Naruto pauses, leaning back into the chair and a loud resounding squeak echoes throughout the room. “Have you guys found any leads? Are you guys finally bringing her home?” His voice lilted at the end, some hope glimmering. Kakashi felt terrible that he was about to squash it like a bug.

“No, we are just recovering our bases. We want to make sure there are no stones left unturned.”

“I see..”

“We are trying our best-”

“I know,” Naruto cuts him off and crosses his arms as he leans back into his chair. His head tilts upwards and he lets out a long sigh. “We just all miss her so much. Sasuke, especially. The guy hasn’t been the same since everything.”

“Have you heard from Mr. Uchiha lately?” Kakashi decides to ask, testing the waters to see if he could find anything about the young man's own disappearance from his friend circle.

“I was over at his house the other day, but it isn’t often that I am able to get past his parents or brother to see him.” Naruto sighs out and messes with his hair just a bit. He sets his blue eyes on Kakashi, a sad smile forming. “Sakura was his whole world. She kept him together in his darkest moments - how do you live without your sun?”

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Kakashi turns off his car as he places it into park. Leaning his forehead against his steering wheel, he takes a deep breath. He figured one last talk with the Uchiha’s wouldn’t hurt. Finding his resolve, he slowly gets out of his car. The door slams just a little too roughly, but Kakashi is well on his way up the front porch of the old victorian style house that the Uchiha’s reside in. Once up there, Kakashi rasped his knuckles against the old, refurbished door with a firm knock or two.

It didn’t take long before a small, pale woman opened the door.

“Detective Hatake Kakashi, may I speak to your son, Sasuke Uchiha?”

It wasn’t long before he was inside the blank,dark, living room of the Uchiha’s with one very tired Sasuke Uchiha sitting across from him. He had eye bags upon eye bags and circles underneath his eyes. He looked frail and small, hunched over on the couch. Essentially, he had lost his life's spark.