A funny little idea that came to me one morning...I hope you enjoy it! And thanks to Redbull07 for reading it over. ^_^
Sakura nursed her hand as she gazed out of the window. It was a lovely day outside, the sun shone and the shadows were deep and dark, a perfect place to hide from the hot sun. Inside it was clinical and white, except the little drips where she had bled. With a sigh she grabbed a cloth and began to clear the red splotches. She couldn't understand why the elderly cat had taken against her so violently, she had been gentle, and really it had nothing wrong with it, so it didn't have that excuse. The day had been quiet, with only a trickle of animals passing through the small practice, but despite the relative peace, she still wished she was outside.
Washing the cloth she straightened and opened the door, searching around the waiting room for the next anxious pet owner. She found him sitting tensely in a corner, a cardboard box held tightly on his lap, his face worried as he occasionally petted the side of the box.
With a smile she waved him over, taking in his shock of blond hair and bright blue, almost childish eyes as he placed the box on the table and opened it up carefully. Sakura peered inside to see a small raccoon curled up on some shredded newspaper. That was one animal she didn't see often. She looked up at the young man. "Naruto? Wasn't it?" He nodded. "Is this your raccoon?"
"Yeah" he scratched the back of his head nervously. "I found him a while ago and he stayed..." He laughed "Probably because I feed him."
Sakura smiled back and reached her hand out to pick up the small animal, but had to draw it back quickly as it snarled and snapped at her hand.
"Ah! Sorry" Naruto waved his hands. "He's not very good with other people." The boy reached into the box and petted the animal before gently scooping it up and putting it on the table. Immediately she saw what the problem was; its back leg was swollen and painful looking, an open wound weeping liquid.
Carefully she reached towards the infected leg, wary of sharp teeth while he held it still. "He's pretty active isn't he?" She commented as she examined the wound, "Did you hand tame him yourself?"
Naruto blinked. "Uh, I guess. I found him with a broken leg and patched it up. When I first found him he was really vicious and every time I went near I got bitten. But yeah...I guess I won him over eventually." Sakura was awarded with a bright grin. "I never really thought of it as taming him."
"Well he's quite docile, considering he has an infected wound. Is this the leg that was broken?"
"No, its this one." the blonde held up one of the little creature's front legs. Sakura was impressed; it was relatively straight, and it was obvious that the raccoon could walk on it. "That's a good job."
"Thanks!" The pleased smile faded as Naruto glanced at the wound again. "Will he be okay?"
Sakura smiled. "Yes. Fortunately you bought his here before it got too bad; but if you had left it much longer, or tried to fix it yourself he could have got blood poisoning. But, with a course of antibiotics and some attention he will be right as rain in no time, that is, if you can get them inside him."
The widest smile yet spread across the blond boy's face as he listened. "That's great! I was so worried that he was beyond help, he was all listless and had started snapping again."
As she went to get the antibiotics Sakura smiled to herself. It was uplifting to see how much the young man cared about his unorthodox pet. The little raccoon was in good hands. By the time she had come back Naruto had bundled it back into the box and it was quiet as she showed him how to give the doses. It even let her pet its furry head. "He should be fine now." She told him. "Come back if he begins to get worse."
Naruto grinned and nodded, waving cheerily as he balanced the box on one arm to leave the building. The visit left Sakura feeling oddly uplifted, it had been only one animal, but some of the blonde's infectious optimism must have worn off on her. It was the little victories which felt the best, and she was certain that the little scavenger would recover without any problems.
It came as a bit of a shock, therefore, when she found the same blue eyes gazing at her anxiously from her waiting room a few months later.
"What's wrong, is he sick again?" She asked as he deposited his box on her table.
Naruto stared at her, distracted for a moment. "Hmm? Oh no, He's doing fine, really perky..." he trailed off and opened up the box. Bemused, Sakura leaned over to see what it held. It was a raven, seated on a bundled cloth this time, its beaked head resting listlessly on the material. "I found him a few years ago, he had fallen out of his nest, so I fed him. But recently he's got ill, and I cant work out what's wrong."
She nodded; the bird certainly didn't seem to be well, it didn't move when she put her hand in and she was able to handle it without a struggle. It wasn't just docile, it was listless. For a long time she examined it, checking its breathing, heart rate and checking its body and wings for injuries while the blonde watched tensely.
Eventually she heaved a sigh and looked up at him. "He's definitely unwell, and...I'm really sorry about this...but I'm not sure that there's anything I can do for him." Her heart wrenched as she saw the boy's face fall. He really did love animals.
"N-nothing at all?" he asked.
Reluctantly she admitted, "Well, we can try to treat him. I can keep him here, but I wouldn't get your hopes up too high I'm afraid. Sometimes...sometimes you just have to accept that you can't save every one. I could be wrong, and he could recover, but from where I'm standing now, I would say he's too far gone."
Naruto chewed his lip and Sakura could see tears pricking at his eyes. "Would...would you mind keeping him here?"
With a sad smile Sakura shook her head. "Not at all. I'll do everything possible for him." She hesitated before adding. "I'm sure he had a very happy life with you, and really, there's nothing else you could have done. Sometimes these things just happen."
She was surprised when the young man laughed, although it was clearly forced. "You're talking like he's already dead."
Sakura shook her head. "Sorry." She murmured. She didn't have the heart to tell him that the chances were that he already was, and there would be nothing she could do. It seemed like that information would break his heart. "You still have your raccoon though" she said brightly. "What was his name?"
Looking surprised Naruto chewed his lips again. "I had never really thought about it. I suppose I had better give him a name, at the moment I just call him 'raccoon'" he laughed. "I keep expecting him to run away, so I never gave him a name."
Still stroking the birds black head Sakura smiled slightly. "It wouldn't hurt to." She looked down at the raven. "I ought to take him to a cage now. I'll give you a call if anything happens."
Naruto nodded. "Thank you." This time where were no cheery waves, no bright grins a he left, just a sombre mood remaining in the room. The worst thing, she thought as she placed the bird in an oxygenated tank, was to tell someone like Naruto, who obviously loved his pet, that it was going to die, but she had long ago accepted that some where always going to be beyond your help, no matter what you did. She just hoped he would come to accept that too.
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