White. That was the first thing he noticed. Still dazed he took in his surroundings. Trees were moving, no. He was the one moving, but his legs weren't even on the ground. He finally noticed the sway of his body and the fistfuls of fur in his grasp. White, soft fur. He tried to lift his head, but only glimpsed fluffy white ears before his face fell back into thick fur.

"Warm." He thought as he buried his face deeper into the creature's back. Snuggling closer, feeling safe despite his confusion, and falling into darkness once again.

Uchiha Sasuke's dark obsidian eyes abruptly opened. He sat up, quickly, ignoring his battered body's protest, looking around. Nothing.

"A dream?" No, it felt too real. A memory, a distant memory he couldn't recall. White fur. What was it? He tried to clear the fog in his mind, but came up blank. He kept trying, he didn't know why, but he knew this was important to him. His internal conflict was interrupted by the creak of the door in front of him.

"Well look who finally woke up, just in time too." The male's sharp fangs flashed at him from behind his mischievous smile.

"Suigetsu. Where are the others?" Suigetsu leaned against the door jamb nonchalantly.

"They're waiting for me to get you." Sasuke frowned at this. He's barely recovered from his fight with Deidara. Something must have happened if they had to move out now.

"What happened?" He demanded.

"Karin spotted Konoha ninjas in the village we were in. She senses a large group of chakra heading this way. It may be them." Sasuke scowled, it's most likely them, who else would be chasing him. Naruto is such a stubborn idiot. Sasuke dressed as fast as he could, grabbed his katana, and stormed out of the cabin.

"Karin, how close are they?"

"They're seven miles away." He inwardly cursed. They were too close for comfort.

"Let's move."

They were able to shake Konoha off thanks to Juugo's birds spreading Sasuke's scent. Now, they were walking slowly through the forest, trying to find the nearest village to stop for the night. No such luck. Although he didn't show it, Sasuke was struggling to keep moving forward. A thin layer of sweat covered his pale skin. He hasn't had enough time to fully recover. If a strong enemy were to appear he'd be six feet under before he could even look at the person. Hopefully there weren't any ninja roaming around these parts.

"Something's coming!" Karin's warning broke the silence of the night. Sasuke cursed his rotten luck.

"What is it?" Suigetsu positioned his blade in front of him, itching to slice through something.

"I don't know. A large mass of chakra is coming this way. It seems to know that we're here."

"So then what do we do?" There was no response to that. If they tried to hide now it would probably find them. If they ran, it may try to pursue them. There was no time though. A dark silhouette was slowly approaching. It wasn't human. Sasuke could make out the form of a large animal. Its massive paws crushing the undergrowth beneath them. Its ears twitching slightly atop its head. It wasn't crouching like it was getting ready to pounce on its next meal. It was taking steady steps towards them and there was no predatory aura coming from it.

The limited light seeping through the trees illuminated the animal. The sight before Hebi was astounding. A majestic white wolf stood before them. Its sleek fur glimmered in the moonlight. It was much larger than a regular wolf. It reached to about Sasuke's chest in height, but the most unusual thing was its tail. Tails, there were seven of them. They swayed as it came closer.

Sasuke was hit by a sudden spell of nostalgia. White. Just like that time many years ago.

A wet feeling brought young Sasuke into consciousness. It was warm and kept tapping the same spot on his cheek. His eyes squinted against the light flooding his vision. He blinked until his sight became clearer. Something was raining down on him. Snow? His arm reached out and caught one of them. Sakura. He tried to get up, but his body refused to move. he felt sore all over. The wet feeling came back. He looked to his right. His eyes met the bright green of a wolf. A white wolf the size of him. White. Did this wolf help him? Something swayed behind it. His eyes followed and he was mesmerized by the seven white tails, tipped a pale pink. He snapped out of his daze when the wolf's nose nudged his cheek and licked him again. He smiled widely, extending his hand out to touch the majestic creature. It didn't seem like a threat. Its fur was soft and warm like a blanket. It closed its eyes and nuzzled against his hand. Sasuke's smile grew.

"Did you save me?" He asked it. Even his child mind knew that this was no ordinary wolf. It licked his hand in response.

"Thank you," it came closer and nuzzled his cheek, which made him laugh.

"Do you have a name?" It tilted its head to the side.

"Can I give you one?" Its tongue lolled out as if waiting for him to continue.

Sasuke closes his eyes for a minute. He gazed up at the blue sky with petals showering over them.

"I'll call you..."

"Sakura?" He breathed. He couldn't believe it. His friend and savior all those years ago is right there in front of him. It's been years since he last saw her. The wolf, Sakura, tilted its head to the side. Its ears twitched at Sasuke's voice, like it recognized what he said. Her eyes met his. That familiar shade of green. Her mouth pulled back and her tongue lolled out. It seems like she remembers him too. Her pace quickened into a run. There was no loud thumping, like he expected with her size, from her paws. It looked like she was running on air. Sasuke felt the corners of his lips twitch up a bit. She came closer and closer, but when she was a leap away from him she was blocked from his view. His three teammates intercepted Sakura. Suigetsu swung his large blade at her. She reacted just in time to avoid the blade, jumping back a few feet.

She crouched into a predator's stance, her lips pulled back into a snarl, barring sharp canines. A growl emitted from deep within her throat as she glared at the three unknown humans. Suigetsu flashed his own teeth in a wide smirk.

"Looking for your next meal huh?" He brought the sword back, ready to take another swing.

"You're messing with the wrong people mutt!" With a battle cry, he launched himself toward the wolf and brought his blade down. He didn't feel the flesh tearing under his blade like he expected. His sword was met with another, the clashing of metal resonated around them in the silent night. Suigetsu was shocked to find Sasuke wielding the other weapon, protecting the beast behind him.

"What are you doing?"

"Fall back." He met Sasuke's murderous glare and reluctantly did as he was told. Sasuke sheathed his katana slowly, keeping an eye on Suigetsu's movement. He felt a tap on his back and he finally turned to face his old friend. She immediately nuzzled into his hand, gave it a lick, and made a whining sound.

"You know this weird mutt?" Suigetsu and the others stepped over cautiously. Sakura growled at his comment. He took a step back with his hands up.

"Alright, alright. Geez, you stupid dog?" Clearly, Sakura didn't like him very much as she almost mauled him for calling her stupid. Luckily for him, Sasuke took her attention away from him when he laid a hand on her head. She was all smiles again, closing her eyes in contentment.

"Pfft, who knew you could attract animals as well," Suigetsu said dryly taking a sip from his bottle. Next to him, Karin openly glared at the oversized animal hogging all the attention Sasuke never gave anyone. Looks like he's not the only one that dislikes the newcomer. On the other hand, Juugo looked fascinated by it. Not that she wasn't. What kind of wolf had seven tails?

"Alright you mangy mutt, shoo! You've had your fun, now leave," Karin all but asked as she approached the two. She was promptly ignored. Sakura didn't move from her spot nor did she look at the angry women behind her.

"Didn't you hear me? I said-"

"Enough, leave her be," Karin huffed and turned away at Sasuke's words.

"Now that you've had your little reunion, can we move on? I need sleep and more water," but none of them knew where they were an if there was a village nearby. They were all exhausted and couldn't take much more travel. Sakura tugged on Sasuke's shirt and turned away, walking in the direction she came. Sasuke followed.

"We're reduced to relying on a mutt. It better not take us to some cave. If it kills us it's your fault Sasuke," Suigetsu muttered low enough for Sasuke to hear, but he was ignored. They followed Sakura through a maze of trees that looked exactly alike. It felt like they were getting nowhere and going in a continuous loop. Karin and Suigetsu were ready to ditch the mutt and find their own way to a nice inn when the trees opened up. A village sat before them, still bustling with life. Lanterns were lit and civilians crowded on the main streets. Kids ran while their parents talked and shopped.

"Who knew there would be a village way out here," Juugo mused as they proceeded into the village. The civilians began to notice them.

"Sakura-sama!" A group of kids ran up to them and practically jumped on Sakura.

"You came back!"

"Let's go play Sakura-sama!" The little boy got pulled back by his mother.

"Souji, don't bother Sakura-sama," she scolded.

"But-"

"Souji."

"Hai..." His head was down with a disappointed pout. A large white paw ruffled his messy hair, cheering him up a smidge.

"Can we play tomorrow then?" Sakura gave the boy a nod and a nudge back to his mother.

"Alright, the rest of you get going too. Sakura-sama has guests and will play with you tomorrow." The rest of the kids reluctantly obeyed and waved goodbye to Sakura. The mother apologized for the trouble, bowed, and left with her son in tow.

"Well, aren't you popular," Karin muttered under her breath, arms crossed.

"It seems the villagers worship this wolf," Juugo said as he observed their surroundings. Everywhere they turned, Sakura received a smile and a bow or a wave. Sakura kept walking, not irked by any of the attention. She led them to an inn further up the street away from the noisy market area. Suigetsu rushed in ahead of them, ready to drop face first into a pillow.

"Hey lady, can you give us a room?" The elderly women at the front desk glanced up with a smile, but it disappeared immediately after looking at him.

"I'm sorry, but we are full," she replied curtly. Suigetsu frowned and his fantasy went to hell. He knew she was lying through her teeth.

"You got to be kidding me."

"I'm sorry sir, but-Oh Sakura-sama!" The wolf had approached the front desk and the old bat cheered right up and forgot about the white haired male. Now he was pissed, he just wanted to sleep already! The rest of the team came up behind Sakura.

"You're back! Are these people with you? Oh, I'm sorry dear, I thought they were trouble. Well, have a nice night then."

"Hey! What about-" Suigetsu was cut off by a tail in his face. He raised a hand to swat it away and missed by a hair when it swung away. He glared at the mutt but followed it nonetheless down the narrow hall to what he hoped to be a nice room and not a doghouse.

I was going to hold onto this until I finished my other stories,

but I decided not to and I might not work on this until at

least one of my other stories is complete.

XxUchihaCherryBlossomxX