Hey, this is a story I had written up a couple of years ago and is now putting it up. This is Dragons =? Chapter 1 I do not own Naruto in any shape or form. Enjoy

Chapter 1

Naruto coughed as he, and the rest of Team 7, was sitting in a hospital room. Kakashi leaned on the window, blocking that means of escape and Sakura sat near the door. Sasuke looked curiously around the room. Naruto gave another chest wracking cough.

"How do you feel Naruto?" asked Kakashi. Naruto glared at him as he croaked out a "screw you." "Naruto! Don't speak!" chided Sakura as she got up and pulled a plastic cup from a dispenser near the sink, which she filled with water.

She handed him the cup of water. He nodded in thanks and greedily drank the water. Sasuke sat in Sakura's evacuated chair as she got more water for the sick blond. Sasuke remembered what Kakashi told him and Sakura earlier.

"Now, even though Naruto is going to the hospital, willing this time." He added the last part under his breath, "He still has a really big fear of hospitals." "What does that have to do with us?" asked Sakura. "Without us there to block the exits, he'll escape." "Why?" she asked again. Kakashi's face grew sad behind his mask. "Let's just say he's had some bad run ins with bad doctors."

Now, here was Team 7, waiting for a doctor to take a look at Naruto. Hell Naruto could escape but didn't for some strange reason. Before Sasuke could voice his question, the door opened. The doctor was male and had deep gold hair that was in a pony tail. [A/N: no, it isn't Edward Elric. Sadly]

"Ah, sorry for the wait. Inuzukas hate doctors. So, who is my new patient?" Naruto coughed badly again. The doctor smiled, "Well, it seems I found out. My name is Dr. Hemming. You are?" Naruto coughed again, so Kakashi answered for him.

"His name is Naruto Uzumaki. For the past couple of days, he's had a really bad cough." Hemming nodded and grabbed the clipboard that the nurse had left with them. It had a tick packet of papers on it.

As he flipped through it, only Kakashi saw that Hemming grew angrier with each page. Hemming put it down, took a deep breath and began to examine Naruto. Fifteen minutes later, Hemming removed the tongue depressor from Naruto's mouth. [A/N: That popsicle stick doctors put in your mouth. For those who didn't know.] "Well, it seems you have a very swollen throat." Sakura asked, "How bad?" "It looks like a cobblestone street with mud on it for a visual." Sakura giggled as Dr. Hemming continued.

"I suggest, no-ordering that you do not speak for at least a week and drink plenty of orange juice and water." Naruto nodded. "Come back in two weeks for another check up and-"he wrote quickly on the clipboard. He ripped off a piece of paper and handed it to Kakashi. "Give this to the pharmacist to give him some herbs on soothing. It'll help." Naruto nodded as Kakashi took the paper. Naruto hopped off the examination bed and looked at the door with glee. "Remember, two weeks Naruto, for another visit." said Dr. Hemming.

Naruto nodded absently. "Good, now off you go. I have another patient and have a great day!" Sasuke stared as Naruto ran off faster than any ANBU the Uchiha Scion had ever seen. Hemming laughed as the rest of Team 7 followed their blond teammate.

Down in the lobby, Naruto was waiting for Sakura to ask her where the pharmacy was. "Hey, what are you doing here Baka?" Naruto turned around to see Kiba standing there with his arm in a sling. "Kiba-san, Uzumaki-san must be here for either visiting or an appointment." spoke Shino as the rest of Team 8 appeared. "Kiba please leave Naruto alone. You are already in enough trouble." said Kurenai. Kiba snorted. "Naruto! Geez, I knew you hated hospitals but come on!" wheezed out Sakura as she stopped running.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, *wheeze* I know *huff* that Dr. Hemming said, I need to get into shape, do not talk but *wheeze* damn." Sasuke and Kakashi arrived too. "Ahh, you must be the Inuzuka Dr. Hemming was talking about." stated Kakashi as he pulled out his Icha Icha Paradise. "It ain't my fault that Doctors suck!" Kiba whined. "W-w-why i-is-s N-N-N-Naruto-k-kun h-here?" asked Hinata. Naruto coughed badly again, causing Akamaru to lick his hand in sympathy. "He has a sore throat and Dr. Hemming said for him to go get some herbs." said Sasuke as Sakura handed Naruto a pad and a pen for him "speak" in this conversation.

"O-oh, I-I-I kn-o-o-w s-some g-good h-herbs." said Hinata, pushing her index fingers together. Naruto perked up before coughing again. "I-If y-you w-w-want, I-I can s-show you w-w-w-where t-t-they a-a-re." Hinata blushed before shrinking into her jacket. Naruto nodded and wrote down "Yeah! That'd be great! Thanks Hinata!" "Why can't Uzumaki-san speak?" asked Shino."Doctor's orders." said Team 7 in union. Naruto cried anime tears at that. "So, Naruto you are going with Hinata-san here to go get your herbs while Sakura and Sasuke go home. We are regrouping in our usual spot at our usual time tomorrow. Remember Naruto, rest and drink plenty of OJ." Kakashi said to his students. "Ok Kakashi-sensei." "Hmn." *Scribble * *Scribble*

"OK! Let's go Hinata!" was the older man's response. Hinata blushed and led Naruto out of the hospital. They walked through the village and went into the woods. Hinata led him to a small clearing that was lined with some purple flowered herbs. They guarded a soft moss bed, which gave Hinata dirty thoughts before she mentally willed them away. "S-see t-the h-herbs w-w-w-with the p-purple f-flowers?" Naruto nodded. "T-those –are t-the ones you w-w-want. I suggest y-you w-write these instructions down." Naruto turned to a clean page on the pad. "Pick the herbs and use the leaves from the flower petals. Then, take the leaves home and in a small bowl, dry out the leaves for at least three days. After they are dry, crush the leaves into a fine powder. Once that is done, boil some water and dump the powder into the water. Mix into a drink, then drink every drop."

Naruto wrote down the instructions and wrote on a clean sheet, "You didn't stutter." Hinata blushed before saying "When talking about things I care about, I don't stutter. It's weird." Naruto shook his head before writing, "It's not. You sound really pretty when you don't stutter." Hinata blushed as Naruto wrote, "Now, let's get those leaves!" Hinata giggled and they began picking herbs together. While they were picking, a strange bird was watching them. It cawed once before it flew off to the border of the Fire country.

It landed on a window sill of a castle of western design. It pecked once on the glass before it opened. The bird flew in and landed on the floor. The strange Red Raven transformed into a young girl with short blond hair. "My Lord, he has begun the change." In the shadows of the room, a deep male voice spoke. "I see. Hopefully he'll have gotten to the half way mark by the end of the year." The girl nodded as the gold eyes from the shadows gleamed. "Go back to your duties Melissa. Keep sending word about young Naruto Uzumaki." The girl, Melissa, nodded again before transforming back into a Red Raven and flying out the window…

After Naruto had picked enough herbs with Hinata, he headed home. Completely unaware that he was being watched by a Red Raven, for his mind was on a certain indigo haired girl. I've never noticed that Hinata is such a sweet person. Man, why can't Sakura be more like her. Naruto arrived at his apartment and went up the 6 flights of stairs to apartment number 666. He unlocked the door and opened it. He put down the pad and paper, grabbed a bowl and sat down at his kitchen table with the herbs. For several minutes, Naruto picked off all of the leaves and placed them in the bowl.

Now, all I need to do is wait for them to dry. He thought as he placed the bowl on the window sill, hoping the sun would make them dry out faster. He coughed again, so Naruto went over to his fridge and brought out some orange juice. He grabbed a clean glass and poured some into it, for he didn't want to contaminate the carton.

After finishing off his drink, Naruto looked around his apartment. Grimacing, Naruto heard a very faint voice say, "Must clean den!" Naruto got out his nearly full cleaning supplies from under the sink…

Sakura huffed out a breath as she walked up the stairwell to Naruto's apartment. She got him some heavy duty cough drops and approached his door. She noticed the different color of paint on his side of the corridor, just halfway down. 'That's weird' Sakura thought as she rang the doorbell. Cluttering noises and minor cursing was heard from the other side of the door. The door opened to reveal a shirtless Naruto, dripping wet and had nothing but a towel around his waist.

"Naruto! Get inside!" said Sakura and shooed him inside. Naruto coughed again as he walked through his now clean apartment. "Wow, Iruka-sensei always told us that you were a pig but I guess he was wrong." Naruto rolled his eyes before heading to his room to throw on some sort of clothing. Sakura took this time to explore his apartment. She already knew the outline of Sasuke's house but Naruto's apartment was undiscovered territory. Pictures of Naruto as a kid with the Hokage, Iruka and the Ichikarus lined one wall. Sakura noticed n every picture there was a deep Rd Raven in the background. 'That's a strange bird' she thought.

Naruto came back out wearing a pair of navy blue flannel pj pants. He grabbed the pen and pad to write, "What are you doing here Sakura?" "I brought some cough drops since the herbs will need some time to dry out." "Thanks." was the reply. "No problem. So, what have you been up to?" she asked. "Dealt with the herbs, drank some juice, cleaned my apartment and was in the shower until you rang the door bell." "Sorry for ruining your shower." "Is ok. What have you been up to?" "Just went to the store to get you some cough drops. You need anything else?" Naruto shook his head "no".

"Okay then. Hope you feel better Naruto." Sakura said her goodbyes and left the apartment. Unknown to Naruto, Sakura was off to the library to see if Red Ravens were real…

Several hours later, Sakura was walking home from researching. 'Red Ravens are servants to the mystical creatures known as Dragons.' she read from the book that was in her hand. Several other books were shoved under her arm. 'Red Ravens are ordered to watch young Dragons and eggs.' She continued to read until she ran into a person. Books flew as she fell. "Ow, swell Sakura" she whispered to herself as she rubbed her head. "Are you okay?" asked a voice.

Sakura looked up to see a very handsome teenager. He had shoulder length red hair and emerald green eyes. He had a lithe build and was wearing a black shirt with a strange symbol on it [A/N: The Hollywood Undead symbol on their album American Tragedy], tight red jeans and some black high-tops converse. Sakura blushed lightly and said, "Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks."

"Here" The new guy handed her a couple of her books. "Thanks."

'I'm Chaine by the way. You must be Sakura Haruno." Sakura narrowed her eyes. "How do you know me?" "Everyone, even outside the city, knows about the young pinkette of the famous Kakashi Hatake's Genin Team." Sakura's blush deepened. "Oh, well, nice to meet you. I have to be going home now." She turned, with all of her books in her arms, to leave when Chaine said, "Researching Red Ravens young one?"

Sakura froze and turned her head around to see him staring at her. "How did you?" "From the way looks of things, you have either a Dragoom or a young Dragon." "Wait-Dragoom?" Chaine smiled and in a flash of light, he disappeared…