Naruto burst into his apartment, nearly stripping the key as he ripped it out of the door in his haste.
After a long day of multiple missions, there was only one thing on his mind.
"Ramen! I need instant ramen!" he moaned, clutching his stomach and nearly writhing on the floor in agony.
Somehow, he managed to boil water and throw all the ingredients together in a bowl. Now for the horrendous three-minute wait.
"Not sure if I can make it," he mumbled. His stomach twisted and growled in agreement.
Naruto wished he could have gone to Ichiraku's, but they had been closed by the time the missions Grandma Tsunade had given him had been completed. Darkness had long since fallen outside, and the only option was for the possibly-out-of-date ramen in Naruto's apartment.
"Finally!" he cheered, lifting the lid on his bowl and picking up his chopsticks. He had just shoved a mouthful of the hot noodles into his mouth when he heard something at the door.
Scratch, scratch, nyah! Nyaaah! Scraaaatch! Nyah!
Naruto slurped some more ramen before getting up to open the door. On his doorstep sat a cat. It had long grey matted, filthy fur and was so thin that Naruto thought he could see its ribs; the look in its eyes was desperate.
"Nyah!" the cat whined, trying to push past Naruto into his house.
"What's wrong, little fella?" Naruto glanced again at its too-thin figure. "You hungry?"
He moved over to his table with the cat following every step of the way. Naruto fished out some of the meat in his ramen and tossed it to the cat, who gobbled it up instantly.
"Woah, when was the last time you ate?" Naruto asked, going to his fridge. He pulled out a small box of ham slices and set it on the floor. The cat stuck its face into the box and chewed and chewed and chewed.
Naruto watched for a few moments before returning to his precious ramen. Boy and cat ate silently together.
That night, Naruto had to push the cat out his door to get it to leave. It protested the whole way, even going so far as to scratch Naruto's arms a few times.
"OW, stupid cat! Go find a nice alley to sleep in!" Naruto yelled. He slammed the door shut before the cat could try to run back in.
Barely two seconds passed before the cat began yowling pitifully.
Naruto shook his fist at the door. "Last time I feed a stray," he muttered, going to his room.
Naruto barely got a wink of sleep that night, as the cat meowed and yowled just outside whatever room Naruto happened to be in. Somewhere right before sunrise, both boy and cat fell asleep probably from sheer exhaustion.
Midmorning, Naruto woke up to his stomach growling.
"Oh, man, so hungry." He threw on some clothes and walked out of his home.
Just outside his door, the cat was curled up sound asleep. Naruto carefully stepped over it and made his way to Ichiraku's.
"Just gimme the usual, old man," Naruto said sleepily, taking his usual seat at his favorite restaurant.
"Naruto, you look exhausted," Teuchi commented.
"Some stupid grey cat kept crying right outside my door last night. I didn't get any sleep," Naruto complained, resting his chin on the counter pitifully. Never mind that he had been through much worse in many missions; at home, he expected a deep and refreshing sleep.
"Don't look now, but there's a grey cat right behind you," Ayame commented. She set Naruto's food in front of him just as the cat jumped up to sit beside Naruto, who let out a surprised yell.
"I'm not going to feed you any more, so back off!" Naruto yelled, glaring at the cat. It simply stared back at him calmly, almost adoringly.
"Aww, she's so pretty!" Ayame said, reaching over to scratch the cat behind its – her? – ears.
Naruto hmph'ed and started eating.
"You should know better than to feed a stray animal," Teuchi commented. "Just one snack and it expects you to feed it for a lifetime."
"Yeah, now you tell me," Naruto said grumpily.
He looked sideways at the cat as he finished bowl. She really was a pretty cat, he supposed. It was cool how she had some white fur beneath her grey fur. And maybe it was a little endearing how she kept looking at him. But she stank badly and had dirt and leaves stuck in her coat.
"Another bowl, old man," Naruto said.
When Ayame plopped that dish in front of Naruto, he had a moment of weakness. He fished out a slice of meat with his chopsticks and offered it to the cat. She took it gently, as if she knew she was on a thin line of spontaneous generosity.
"Where'd you come from, huh?" Naruto wondered aloud. "Are you really a stray, or do you have an owner somewhere?"
The cat simply jumped onto the counter and rubbed her head against his arm, purring.
"Maybe you should put up some flyers," Ayame suggested. "If someone claims her, she won't make a fuss outside your door anymore."
Naruto brightened. "Hey, good idea! I'll get Sai to make the posters!"
He quickly scarfed down the rest of his meal, slammed the money on the counter, and took off at run. "Come on, Cat!" he called over his shoulder. "Sai will need you to model!"
"Shadow clone jutsu!"
An hour after leaving Ichiraku's, Naruto had more copies of flyers about the cat than he could handle. After splitting them into multiple stacks, he used his shadow clones to put them up all over the Leaf Village.
Somehow, the cat knew which Naruto wasn't the clone, and she followed the real him all over his section of the village.
Naruto put up the last flyer and frowned at the cat. "I guess now comes the bad part: waiting."
She sat down and meowed at him.
"In the meantime, you need a name."
She noticed a bird several feet away and began stalking it.
"Purr? Grey? Whiskers? Claws?"
The cat pounced, and Naruto watched in fascination as the she made short work of her prey.
"Hunter? Or, no, you're a girl. Huntress? Bird? Heh, that'd be unique!"
The cat licked her paws a few times, then she went back to Naruto and rubbed up against him, rubbing dirt onto his pant leg in the process.
Naruto picked the cat up and held her at arm's length. "Yuck! More important than a name, you need a bath!"
The cat stared wide-eyed at him, as if she knew something was coming that she wouldn't like.
Sure enough, Naruto had his hands full as he tried cleaning the cat up. By the time he deemed her clean, there was as much soap and water on Naruto as on the cat. She hadn't scratched him, though, and Naruto knew he had to count his blessings.
"Wow, you clean up really well!" Naruto exclaimed. "You're practically shining now, like polished silver or something."
An idea formed, and Naruto scrunched up his face to follow the train of thought. Shining, polished, buffed, buffy! "Hey, that's what I'll call you! Buffy!"
Naruto dropped a towel on Buffy and dried her off. Then he did the same to his own hair and changed his clothes.
As he walked back out to the main room in his apartment, he realized that by giving Buffy a bath, he had let her into his house in a way slightly more permanent than just a short feeding. Probably not the best move for this stubborn and clingy cat.
At the moment, she was curled up on his table, looking at him adoringly.
"Oh, man, this is not gonna end well..." Naruto sighed, trying to decide if he wanted to wrestle her back outside again. He really couldn't count on an owner showing up and claiming her as the solution to his problem.
Naruto had an idea.
Taking on a very casual and not-suspicious-in-any-way air, Naruto whistled and strode out of his home. As expected, Buffy followed him.
With speed worthy of the great ninja he was, Naruto leaped back inside and slammed the door before Buffy could follow him. She began complaining instantly.
Naruto groaned to himself. He wasn't being cruel! He wasn't!
...Was he?
Buffy clearly thought he was.
Naruto thought about Onbu, the onbaa that had attached himself to Naruto's back for an extended period of time. He hadn't kicked Onbu out of his house.
Instead, Naruto had let himself get attached to the little guy, even though he had had to leave when he reached maturity. Could Naruto share such a bond with another animal just to risk quickly losing it again?
He thought about Kiba and Akamaru. Those two had been together since back in the Academy, and they still had not parted ways. But they were partners in battle.
Finally, slowly, Naruto opened his door back up.
Buffy rushed in and bit Naruto's leg.
He didn't flinch.
"Yeah, I deserved that. Sorry, Buffy."
The next couple of days passed quickly, and despite his best efforts, Naruto couldn't help getting attached to Buffy.
He didn't want to invest in actual cat food when Buffy's previous owner (if she had even had one) could still show up any second, but he shared almost every meal with her. Once, Buffy tried to return the favor by putting a mouse she had killed on his pillow right as he woke up one morning.
Each night, she slept at the foot of Naruto's bed, somehow managing to find the one spot he didn't kick in his sleep.
She even accompanied him on his missions as Onbu had. Thankfully, Naruto had lately done only chore-like missions around the village, so Buffy didn't have to risk getting hurt in a battle.
As much as Buffy was getting out of staying with Naruto, she did her best not to freeload. She helped Naruto out in more than one way.
When Kakashi-sensei showed up in Naruto's window offering a basket full of vegetables, Buffy herself ate the worst of them for Naruto. She was sick later that day, which worried Naruto for a while. But thankfully, she behaved just like normal once the veggies had gotten out of her system.
She kept his home vermin-free too. The mouse she had shared with Naruto wasn't the only one she caught, and she squashed the roaches that infested his kitchen every chance she could get.
And best of all was the company she provided day and night. She wasn't always super affectionate, but she always somewhere nearby. Even when, at times, she pretended to ignore Naruto as he spoke her, Naruto felt like she was still listening.
Then there came the fateful day Naruto was assigned a mission outside the village.
Naruto worried a little bit about how things would go down if he had to get into a fight, how Buffy would react and if she would stay safe, but he decided he should just cross that bridge when he came to it.
"Alright, all packed! Let's hit the road, Buffy!" Naruto said cheerfully.
Buffy sat in Naruto's chair licking her paws, but she followed him when he walked outside.
And she followed him all the way to the gates of Konoha, but she refused to go a single step farther.
"Huh? What's wrong, aren't you coming?" Naruto asked, blinking at her.
Buffy meowed loudly and paced in the opening, but she didn't follow Naruto.
"Well, I'm leaving!" he told her. "Come or stay, it doesn't matter to me!"
He started walking away in a huff, but he soon slowed and looked back at Buffy.
She had sat down in the center of the road under the arch and was watching him leave. She still made no move to follow him, and she wasn't yowling or doing anything to try to make him come back either.
Naruto scowled. "Stupid cat." He'd be back in a day or two, a week tops. With her hunting skills, she could survive that long without him.
He marched off.
"Never understood girls," Naruto muttered under his breath. "Ya think you know 'em, and then they go and just leave you." Never mind that Naruto had been the one leaving. "What's her problem, anyways? What's she got against a road trip? Whatever it is, it's not bad enough for her to want me to stay away from it either. Thought she actually liked me, the way she followed me all around the village. Bet she just liked the food, and now she's gonna raid my fridge."
That thought was almost enough for Naruto to do a complete one-eighty and run back to protect his food, but he had a mission to do.
"Probably been waiting for this chance all week. What other explanation could there be?"
Naruto sighed.
He went through his mission in a haze. He barely remembered what happened, who he fought, or even if his mission was a success. All he could do was think about Buffy.
Finally, Naruto found himself on the road back home. He couldn't wait to get back to his cat. Somewhere along the mission, he had made himself stop thinking in worst-case scenarios. Maybe Buffy just didn't trust the world outside the walls of Konoha. Maybe she knew Naruto was capable of handling it, but she preferred not to herself.
Maybe she even was trying to behave like a little non-ninja wife – seeing him off for his job and looking forward to his return.
Naruto had to laugh at that last absurd thought, but at least he felt better about the situation now.
So when Naruto got back home, the news he found there was all the more crushing.
On his door was stapled a note: Thanks for finding my cat Schnookums! I really missed her! –Suki Inuzuka
In shock, Naruto stood at his door for the longest time without going in. When he finally did go in, he was immediately greeted by his same old usual apartment, with the exception of a few hairballs here and there. And a lack of roaches.
He couldn't stay. Naruto slammed the door shut again and trudged off, making his way to Ichiraku's.
Teuchi and Ayame tried cheering him up, and Teuchi even let Naruto eat for free, but Naruto barely noticed.
Finally, Ayame apologized: "I'm sorry for suggesting you put up the posters. Then this never would have happened."
Naruto stared glumly at his ramen. "If you hadn't, someone else probably would have. I really wanted to get rid of her then, you know? But then she grew on me."
"Ready to be hit with another great idea, courtesy of Ayame?" Ayame asked hesitantly.
Naruto shrugged.
"What if you went to see her with her owner? You could at least say goodbye then, if not arrange something so that you could see her on a regular basis. It wouldn't be the same as actually housing her, but it might be better than nothing."
Naruto considered the suggestion and slowly brightened. "Hey, you're right. Uh, but where would the owner live?"
Ayame sweatdropped, and Naruto gave her a curious look.
"What? Do you know this Suki girl?" he asked.
Ayame shook her head. "Uhm, no, but didn't you say her last name was Inuzuka?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Isn't that a clan here in the village? I thought you even had a classmate who was an Inuzuka."
Naruto scowled in concentration, trying to think of who Ayame might be talking about. "Oh, wait! You mean Kiba? Why didn't you say so! Thanks for the free meal, old man!" Successfully encouraged, Naruto quickly slurped down his ramen, hopped off his stool, and ran to Kiba's home.
"Suki?" Kiba thought for a moment, unable to hide his surprise at Naruto's question. "Yeah, she's my cousin. She lives about four houses down, I think."
"Thanks, Kiba!" Naruto said, ignoring the obvious question on Kiba's face and taking off in the direction indicated.
It was obvious when Naruto reached the right house. Buffy was sitting in one of the windows, licking her paw.
When she caught sight of Naruto standing in the street in front of the house, she leaped down out of sight. Naruto soon heard yowling by the door.
His heart melted.
With his manly ego bolstered, he marched right up to the door and rang the bell.
A girl around the age of nine or ten answered the door, but Naruto barely glimpsed her before Buffy jumped on him and wound her way around his shoulders before making him hold her in his arms.
"Schnookums, is that the boy who took care of you when you got lost?" the girl asked in wide-eyed wonder.
Naruto wanted to snap at the brat that Buffy's name was not Schnookums, but he managed to keep his quick temper in check.
Barely.
"Uh, yeah, that's me. You're looking at Naruto Uzumaki, future Hokage!"
"Cool! I'm Suki." The girl beamed at him. "I can tell Schnookums really likes you. Come on in!"
Naruto walked into the girl's home, still carrying Buffy, who was by now purring loudly.
"Uhm, yeah, thanks," Naruto said. "Suki, why do you own a cat when your clan specializes in dogs?"
"I found Schnookums in an alley a couple years ago, and she was starving. So I brought her home and ignored Mommy and Daddy when they tried to make me get rid of her. Suki got lost last month, but you found her and now she's home!" Suki prattled. "You're a hero, Naruto!"
Naruto blinked. "I'm flattered. I gotta admit, I really got to like Buf—uh, Schnookums, while she was staying with me. Think I can keep coming to visit her sometimes when I'm not on missions?"
Suki smiled widely again. "Yes, Schnookums would like that, wouldn't you, girl?" She reached up and scratched Buffy behind the ears, and the cat leaned into the girl's touch.
Naruto felt a blast of bittersweet emotions. He could return and see Buffy again. But it wouldn't be the same. Never the same.
Suddenly, the door burst open and a giant of a man walked in carrying a puppy that seemed practically swallowed in the man's hands.
He stopped short when he saw Naruto.
"Suki, what is a stranger doing in our house?" he bellowed.
While Naruto did his best not to cower, Suki just smiled sweetly.
"Daddy, this is Naruto! He kept Schnookums safe when she got lost!"
"You don't need that cat anymore," the man said gruffly, lowering his volume somewhat. He plopped the puppy into Suki's arms. "Your very own dog. Get to know him well; you'll be responsible for protecting each other when you graduate from the Academy."
Suki squealed as she cradled the puppy, who looked barely old enough to have left its mother.
Naruto hardly dared breathe. He stood still as a statue, waiting for what he could scarcely let himself hope for.
"Isn't he adorable, Schnookums?" Suki said, reaching up to scratch Buffy again.
This time, however, Buffy hissed and avoided the girl's touch.
Suki frowned, water swimming in her eyes.
Great. Naruto was about to watch a kid cry.
The huge man bent down and scooped Suki into an embrace, puppy and all. "Suki, you don't want to have to look after Schnookums anymore. Not now that you have a dog. Dogs are a million times better than cats!"
Buffy meowed her protest.
Suki sniveled.
"Hey, Suki?" Naruto said. "What if I promised to take care of Schnookums for you, and let you visit anytime you want?"
Suki sniveled again and stared at Buffy, still comfortably in Naruto's hold. "Promise?"
"Promise." Naruto held Buffy in one arm and held out his other arm's pinky finger to Suki, who hooked it with her own pinky finger.
"Suki, what do you say?" the man said, smiling at Naruto.
"Thank you," Suki said obediently, also smiling as she wiped away the traces of tears.
Naruto grinned. "Thank you."
He marched off proudly into the sunset, cat on his shoulder and sparkle in his eyes.
Well, okay, so maybe it was still the middle of the day. And maybe Buffy was trotting alongside him rather than dramatically balancing on his shoulders.
But his eyes probably were sparkling.
Until he realized he should probably now fork out the cash for some permanent cat supplies.
His wallet suddenly ached, but at least he was back together with Buffy. He couldn't wait to let Ayame know (well, really, he wanted to shout it to the whole village) that her great idea was a success.