The pink haired 20 year old glared sleepily at her alarm clock, the numbers hadn't yet made themselves into something other than jumbled lines. 8:15, the numbers read. realizing this, the girl jumped out of bed, shouting curses and other obscenities towards the alarm clock. She pulled on jeans and grabbed a random shirt tshirt from her dresser. To her luck, it was the red v-neck that she'd been searching ages for. Still running, she brushed her teeth and brushed her hair. After she washed her face, she quickly pulled on a pair of plain flats. She didn't have time to be picky so she grabbed and apple and her messanger purse. She slowed to lock the door and close it behind her as she ran to her job.
Even if it was just a job at the local hospital, that was fine with her. She babysat sometimes to bring in extra money, but Sakura didn't usually need a lot of money to survive. The job at the hospital meant a lot to her though, she liked helping people. Her boss, Tsunade, was the main doctor there and she adored Sakura like she was her own daughter. So when the pink haired girl rushed through the door, right on time, all she did was smile.
While in the process of finishing her apple, Sakura rushed to the employee's room to put her stuff away. She tossed the apple in the trash can with great accuracy and went to get her coat on. Within minutes, she snapped the lock shut and rushed out to start her rounds for the day. First, she was needed in the children's part of the hospital. She wrapped a couple of wounds, set a couple bones back and made them casts. After she finished there, it was getting close to noon, but she was needed in the labs. That's where her job usually took place any other time. She was a technician, but she also worked on medicines and antidotes for various poisons that were becoming common in some of the patients that were brought in.
Something in her pocket vibrated, not before startling Sakura. She was glad that she wasn't working on anything when it rang because that would have ended horribly. She held the phone to her ear.
"What do you want," she snapped softly into the phone.
"I just wanted to know what you wanted for lunch Sakura-chan," Naruto answered happily.
Sakura brightened, "Can you bring me some miso ramen?"
The boy on the other end nodded, but quickly realized that she couldn't see him and replied with a simple, "Yes."
Inner Sakura cheered, "Tell Hinata that I said hello."
Naruto blushed, "I-I will. Bye Sakura-chan."
Sakura giggled as her blonde friend hung up. She could practically heard the blush in his voice. With the reward of food hanging in the air, Sakura quickly came up with a antidote for a poison that was giving her a little bit of trouble. The pink haired girl put it into a box, after she labeled the poison and antidote correctly, and went to give it to Tsunade. Sakura hurried down the hallway and towards the stairs. Without missing a beat, Sakura raced up the stairs, careful not to juggled to box around too much. She didn't pay attention to Ino, her coworker, kissing someone besides her fiancee. She didn't care either way. After a few minutes, she knocked lightly on Tsunade's door.
"Tsunade-sama, I have the antidote for that poison that you gave me."
There was a mumbled reply and Sakura walked in, a bright smile plastered on her face. Her boss looked up from the paperwork that she was doing. Sakura gently handed her the box and turned to walk out.
"Sakura, you may leave early if you wish. Today's been a slow day, plus, we don't have anymore poisons for you to decode for us," her boss said, "If we need you, we'll call you, okay?"
Sakura nodded with a huge smile.
"Go on, get outta here, you probably need to buy a new alarm clock," she said with a knowing smile.
Blush coated Sakura's cheeks. She really did have to go buy a new alarm clock. With that she waved happily to her boss and walked to the employee's room. She put her lab coat away and slipped her phone into her bag. The pink haired girl locked it back up and made her way out of the hospital. It was no surprise that she was walking out as Naruto walked in.
"Sakura-chan," he called, "I thought you were working today."
She shook her head, it was three o'clock. Normally she would have gotten off around nine, after Naruto brought her dinner, "There seemed to be a change in plans today."
He nodded and handed her her ramen, "This is for you. By the way, Hinata said hi."
Inner cheered, Finally, they're going to get together.
Outer Sakura smiled, "Well, you should get back to her. I'm going to go home and sleep."
A quick hug and a small wave later, the two friends parted. Sakura did go home, or she tried to. The pink haired girl was walking by and noticed something. It looked like a little gray ball. As she neared it she saw that it was a kitten. It didn't look hurt, nor was anything bleeding, but Sakura didn't take any chances. She gently picked the kitten up and held it her her as she walked home. By the time that she got home, the kitten had climbed into her bag and it seemed like it was comfortable there so she didn't bother it. She reached in her purse and got out her house key and unlocked the door. Sakura walked to the kitchen and set the food on the counter before retreating to her room. The pink haired girl gently pulled the kitten out of her bag and sat it on her bed. With half opened eyes the kitten looked at her lazily before yawning and balling up to sleep. Green eyes stared at the little thing in wonder.
I wish I could be a cat, she thought. Inner agreed. Sakura grabbed a piece of paper and a Sharpie and walked back to the kitchen. As she ate her ramen, she wrote on the paper.
Little gray kitten found. It's light gray with darker stripes. It's not mine but I found it on my way home from work. Please come claim it. With that she wrote her phone number. By now, all her ramen was gone and the kitten was still asleep on her bed. She walked back to the room with the paper to get her bag. The kitten, now aware of the girl, stood up and stretched. It took advantage of her lowered position to put shoes on and climbed up on her shoulder. It gave a soft mew, it's golden eyes staring into Sakura's turned green ones. The pink haired girl pulled the kitten into her lap, she scratched it behind its ears. The kitten purred loudly and crawled into Sakura's bag, only to stick it's head out to mew.
Much to her amusement, the cat could understand what she was saying and would reply with a series of mews. The cat was perched on the pink girl's shoulders and was purring. Sakura, lost in her train of though, was walking. The pair were hanging up LOST posters for the kitten. The kitten and Sakura were walking towards Sakura's apartment when someone tapped Sakura on the shoulder. It was getting late, so with green eyes widened, she turned.
Damn. Inner thought, They're fine, with a capital F. In every sense of the word-
Sakura tuned her inner, more perverted self, out and took a step back to observe the person, or rather, people. Green eyes stared into those of five grown men.
"Uh," the girl started, "May I help you?"
"Yes," on of the guys with white hair said, "Could you tell us where to find a pretty girl like yourself?"
Sakura laughed, taking the men by surprise. She picked up the tape and the papers and started to walk away.
"Sorry, I'm one of a kind," she called over her shoulder as she walked away.
She left the five guys standing there, more or less, confused. Sakura stuffed the tape and paper in her bag and continued walking towards the store. The pink haired girl walked to the aisle for clocks and got a new one because she couldn't keep rushing around in the morning. While I'm here, she thought, I might as well get some food for my little buddy and I. Swiftly, she walked to the back of the store and grabbed some instant ramen. Naruto was really starting to rub off on her. Sakura walked to the check out counter, eager to get home. The cashier rang her stuff up, Sakura paid. After Sakura was handed her bag and she was ready to leave did she hear the soft mew of a kitten. She turned and saw the little kitten scrambling towards her with a little pink collar in its mouth. This kitten really was something. She picked the little kitten up and took the collar back to the cashier, who smiled.
"Maybe some other time," Sakura said.
The cat gave its usual response and retook its perch on Sakura's shoulder. The pink haired girl and gray cat walked back to Sakura's apartment to enjoy instant ramen and a quiet night. Or so the duo thought. It seems fated that the girl would meet the five men again, and as she was walking up to her apartment.
"Yo Pinky," a different voice called.
Sakura unlocked her door and turned, "Hm?"
"Oh, it seriously does look like she's going to be our neighbor," the blonde one said, "Don't worry Pinky, we don't bite- Whatcha got there?"
She looked to the bag confused and back to the boys. Sakura was confused, then she realized that the blonde guy was talking about the kitten sitting dutifully at her feet.
"Oh, yeah, that's my kitten," the pinkette said dismissively.
The kitten hissed at them and meowed like it was trying to roar. Sakura set the bags inside the door and grabbed the kitten.
"Come on, you little thing, we can't be kicked out cause you beat up our new neighbors," she said with a laugh.
Cue little cat smile. The boys looked at the pink haired girl, unsure of what to do. They were going to invite her to dinner, when she turned and walked into her apartment, shutting and locking the door behind her.