A/N: Here's the first chapter of the story that won the poll. The last chapter of Left behind will come up as soon as my beta is done with her checks. Hope you enjoy!

Diclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Summary: Being tricked by his two former students he's transformed into a cat and placed under Sakura's care. Will there bloom something up between them or will he just be Sakura's sweet kitty cat?

It started with a jutsu

It was quite a beautiful day. The sun was shining bright in the cloudless blue sky, there was a soft breeze that cooled the heated air and the birds were chirping happily. Naruto and Sasuke stared lazily at the pair sparring before them, seeking cover under the shade of a tree. They were already done sparring themselves and not wanting to fight any more they simply stared at the other two remaining members of their team.

Sakura was panting quite heavily as she slammed her fist into the ground and quickly leaped away from their former sensei. Said man stared amazed at the ground, still not quite used to the fact that the pink haired woman could do such things and cause such damage so easily. He disappeared in a poof of smoke and shortly after that there was a high pitched scream. A pink blur burst out of the trees, hitting the ground and stopped somewhere in the middle of the open field. Grunting she grabbed her side, coughing up some blood and spitting it on the ground. She suddenly jumped up, and in the place where she'd previously been several kunai's were now dug into the ground. Landing gracefully on the ground she sought cover in the woods before her, her hand glowing dim green as she healed her wound.

There was a short moment of silence; the only sound to be heard was the chirping of birds high in the sky and the sleepy yawn Naruto gave as he stretched his arms above him before lowering them to his sides again. Then two blurs of pink and silver appeared again, their kunai clanging against each other as they fought. Even if they were far away from them you could still clearly see the amused glint in the older ninja's onyx eye and the small smile on Sakura's lips. They were obviously enjoying their spar immensely.

"Ne Teme?" Naruto suddenly spoke up as his bright eyes still concentrated on the fight between the other two.

"Hn?"

"What would you think of Sakura and Kakashi together?"

"What made you think that Dobe?" Sasuke asked confused.

"Well you're dating Inashi and all and I can't do it myself as I'm dating Hinata. And Sakura seems rather relaxed and happy around Kakashi. Why not bring those two together?"

"Dobe."

"Teme I'm serious! Sakura deserves some happiness and I would rather it to be with Kakashi than somebody we don't know. Besides have you seen the looks they give each other? They already like one another. And look how good they look together and how they're glowing now while they spar. Wouldn't it be worth a shot?"

"Hn. Maybe you're right. But what makes you think that they would simply hook up?"

"That's where we come in," Naruto said with a playful glint is his bright blue eyes. He turned his gaze finally to his best friend and rival beside him and smiled. "Remember the scroll I told you about once?"

"You've got to be kidding me Dobe. That will never work."

"Fine back off, I don't need your help anyway," Naruto pouted and crossed him arms. "But when they're happy together then you can't claim you did anything!"

Sasuke sighed, knowing there wouldn't be anything that could stop Naruto from this ridiculous idea. "Fine I'm in, but only to watch you and make sure you don't mess anything up. You're right about Sakura; she needs some happiness in her life."

Naruto smiled and turned his gaze back to the pink haired jounin. After he'd left the village for three years for training with Jiraiya, Sakura was left alone in the village. He'd heard from Jiraiya that Kakashi had gone back to ANBU while he waited for him to return and it saddened him a little. He'd hoped that he would turn his attention towards Sakura but didn't. She had sought out her own guidance from the fifth Hokage no less and had blossomed from a frightened little girl that didn't know what to do, into a beautiful woman with confidence, strength and medical skills to rival those of Tsunade herself. Now at the age of twenty-three she was a well accomplished jounin and third best medic, able to take her rightful place in standing next to her two teachers, Shizune and Tsunade.

She was still the same girl he'd known before he left, but not so the love struck teen anymore. And while they were only friends back then, they eventually grew much closer than ever before. They were like a brother and sister how they acted around each other now. And when two years back dragged the other pissed off part of their little family back they were finally whole again. But then something horrible had happened to Sakura a half a year ago. While they were away on a mission, her parents well known merchants all over the fire country were ambushed by rogue nin's. When they got back and reported in to the Hokage's office she had received the heartbreaking news.

Her bright emerald eyes stared with shock and disbelief at her Shishou before she raced out of the office and sprinted to her childhood home, only to find it empty. She yelled her parents names over and over again before she slumped to the ground soon after. It broke Naruto's heart to see her that way. He'd remained firmly by her side at the funeral, silently hugging her from behind at training breaks trying to give her some comfort. She didn't say much after that, her eyes dulled as she mourned over her parents. But she never cried once in their presence. He watched hopelessly as the lively fire in the kunoichi began to falter, she ate less and dark circles appeared under her eyes. She screamed in her sleep when she went on missions with them, but not once had she turned towards them to help her get over the loss. Only when she fainted in a training session did Kakashi decided he'd had quite enough of her behaviour and gave her a lecture on how stupid her behaviour of the past weeks had been. And it was he who had been around for the next days to make sure she looked after herself well. And thanks to him every day they got a bit more of the old Sakura back.

And now looking at them sparring against each other with great enjoyment Naruto knew that those two would be good for each other. He watched as Sakura wasn't quick enough to dodge Kakashi's counterblow and fell onto the ground, both of them rolling a few times until they stopped. Sakura pinned under him while laughter bubbled out of her lips.

"You won again Sensei," Sakura breathed as she stared up at the man hovering above her.

"You're getting better every day Sakura, I have to watch out," Kakashi grinned back. He stood up, sticking out his hand to help Sakura up. Grabbing his hand gratefully she was hauled up, and kept hold of his hand just a bit longer then necessary before letting go. She dusted herself off whilst smiling at him.

"One day I'm going to beat you Kakashi, you'd better be ready."

She turned her back on him and made way towards her other two team mates, Kakashi following not far behind her.

"You did great Sakura-chan," Naruto beamed at his pink haired friend as she fell down beside him. He handed her, her water canteen and she grabbed it gratefully, gulping some water down.

"Why didn't you two fight?" Sakura asked between her swallows.

"We were already done and Dobe here didn't want to have his ass beaten again."

"Teme that's not true!"

"Hn."

Sakura only shook her head as her team mates stared bickering against one another. Lying down her canteen on the grass she swatted both her friends at the same time on the back of their heads. "Stop it you two, you're going to give me a headache!"

"Ouch! Sorry Sakura-chan," Naruto apologized as he rubbed the now sore spot on his head. "So are we going for ramen?"

"I'm sorry Naruto," Sakura apologized as she gathered her stuff together. "I can't, I'm expected at the hospital today. Shizune's going to teach me to extract poison out with a new technique."

"It's cool Sakura-chan. I'll see you later!"

Sakura smiled as she hugged him from behind before standing up. "See you guys tomorrow!" She waved before hoisting her pack on her back with ease and ran off.

"Hn. I'm going too. Inashi is waiting for me at her mother's shop."

Naruto watched as the raven haired man walked off before he turned to the last remaining team mate who leaned against the bark of the tree, his smutty book opened as he read in peace.

"Ne, Kakashi?" Naruto started as he turned towards his former sensei.

"Hmm?"

"I was wondering if you could help me with a jutsu."

Kakashi flipped another page and continued to read, making Naruto wonder if he heard his question at all. Knowing how to get under his skin he sighed disappointedly, his bright eyes dulled with sadness as he stood up and slowly walked away, his form slumped.

"Fine I'll help," Kakashi sighed as he snapped his book shut.

"Cool! Thanks Kakashi!" Naruto yelled happily while inwardly he laughed evilly as he got what he wanted. "Wait here I'll be right back to get the scroll," he said before he sprinted off.

Kakashi sighed heavily as he watched the blonde sprint off but under his mask he smiled softly. When he'd seen the slumped and disappointed form of Naruto he knew he would agree to help him, even if it might come back to bite him in the ass later. Opening his book yet again he continued to read as he waited for Naruto to return.

When he finally returned Kakashi looked up at the panting form of his former student. Placing his book safely in his pouch for later he waited patiently for Naruto tell him what the problem was. Naruto knelt down on the ground, rolling out the scroll and looked at the seals now staring back at him.

"Can you lend me a hand Kakashi?"

"Sure." Kakashi stood up and knelt down on the other side of the scroll, looking at it with curiosity. "Just make it quick, I was getting to a good part of the book."

Naruto sighed but held back the comment that was lying on the tip of his tongue. Instead he grabbed Kakashi's hand and quickly cut a small wound in his index finger. A few blood drops landed on the scroll while Kakashi jerked his hand back confused. "What was that for?!"

"It's an A-ranked jutsu and will only work with a highly skilled ninja," Naruto lied quickly while in his head a quite different answer was said. 'I don't want the jutsu to effect me.' His hands raced for the seals quickly and Kakashi watched in confusion at his former student.

"It seems you don't need help at all Naruto. You're doing quite well yourself."

And as soon as he was finished his sentence, Naruto slammed his hands on the seals. Before he knew what hit him he was knocked over, pain filling his senses as the world seemed to change before him. He groaned softly and the last thing he saw before he blacked out was a blonde mop of hair. He cursed at himself loudly for letting himself be tricked into Naruto's trap.

When he finally opened his eyes again, he noticed immediately that he wasn't in the training grounds anymore. He was lying on something soft and everything seemed so different, far larger than it was before. He heard some footsteps coming his way and soon after that he saw his two former students kneeling beside him. Sasuke was holding something in his arms and stared at him sceptically while Naruto smiled brightly at him.

"Took you awhile to wake up you lazy ass!"

"Watch it Naruto!" Kakashi tried to yell at him. But he was shocked when a totally different sound came out of his mouth than he'd expected. His eyes widened and stared in shock at the two males before him. He was meowing! He, the awesome, infamous copy ninja was making freaking cat sounds!

Naruto was smiling sheepishly as he scratched his head. Sasuke was now smirking at him with a satisfied glint. Standing up he narrowed his eyes as he yelled at Naruto angrily.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME?!" But just like before his speech came out as short meows and hisses.

Something hairy brushed against his side and he jumped slightly from shock. No way… Turning around in circles he ignored the laughs he received from Naruto and Sasuke, he knew very well it looked stupid but he just needed to know. And yes there it was the blasting thing he was searching for, a busy silver tail, his tail. Sitting down on his hind legs he sighed heavily, hoping it was just a bad dream and he would wake up in his bed.

Opening his eyes he glared at the two people before him. "You two are so dead when I'm done with you. Now change me back!"

"I can't understand what you're saying Kakashi," Sasuke answered calmly, earning a heated glare in return.

"No can do sensei, it's for your own good," Naruto answered him. "And Sakura's…" he added quietly afterwards.

"How come that you can understand me and the brat over there doesn't?" Kakashi asked irritated, still not wanting to forgive them for what they'd done to him.

"I've got a fox in me remember?" Naruto sighed. He grabbed the thing Sasuke was holding and turned it around. "It's only fair that you can see how you look right now."

Kakashi blinked, staring at his reflexion in the mirror. He was a middle sized cat, his fur bushy, silver and sticking out in every way possible. His paws and the tip of his tail on the other hand were black. He still had mismatched eyes, one red and the other dark blue. And of course there was the scar crossing his left red eye. He must say he looked rather cute for a being a cat.

"Why did you change me?" Kakashi sighed heavily.

"Well I noticed the glances you give Sakura-chan and I know you like her." Right after that statement Kakashi was eternally glad that cats couldn't blush. His eyes widened and he stared at the blonde ninja before him.

"Don't worry; Sasuke and I don't mind it. We thought that this way you could see another side of Sakura. Since the accident with her parents, she still acts like she's happy. But you haven't heard her scream the way she does when she sleeps. And you know she won't go to any of us because she doesn't want to appear weak." Naruto explained. "Just please play along, only for two weeks and if you still don't like it we change you back."

Knowing he had no other choice, he tilted his head down in defeat. Naruto was wrong at about one thing though. He had heard Sakura scream in her sleep; that happened while he was staying with her. But never once had she come up to him to talk about it, no matter how much he hinted to her he was there to help.

He yelped when he was pulled up, his hind legs now dangling in the air as Naruto had grabbed him just behind his front legs. His other arm came up from below, letting Kakashi rest upon his arm as he was carried towards the kitchen. He was let loose on the table, stumbled a little before he stared at Naruto with confusion. He only knew what they were planning when Sasuke walked into the kitchen, lying down a small plate in front of him, red goo resting atop of it. His eyes already watered at the terrible smell, his front paws coming up to cover his nose. Was this torture or something? No way was he going to eat that!

"What are you waiting for Sensei, eat it!" Naruto said happily, pushing the small plate closer to Kakashi.

"Eat it yourself!" Kakashi growled back and slammed one of his paws against the small plate, shoving it over the edge of the table. A clack was heard as he looked down over the edge, he looked rather satisfied with his work as he saw that the reddish goo was plastered over the ground and the small plate had been broken into pieces.

"That was your dinner! The most expensive cat food there was!" Naruto yelled at him.

"Eat is yourself then, no way you're getting me to eat that." He tilted up his nose and turned around showing them his back in protest.

"I take it he didn't like it," Sasuke said lightly, watching the scene unfold before him. "I side with him on this one Dobe, it does smell rather disgusting."

"See even Sasuke agrees with me!" Kakashi yelled back.

"Alright already!" Naruto growled back at him. "I get it; it's on the no list. I was just trying it out."

"C'mon Dobe we need to get going if we want to get to her before she leaves."

"Oh right." Grabbing Kakashi quickly again they took off, leaving the nasty reddish stuff behind on Naruto's kitchen floor.

xXx

Sakura was rather tired when she finally excited the hospital. She had learned much today but the technique Shizune showed her still drained a lot from her chakra system. Yawning tiredly she started to make way towards her apartment thinking with a smile of her bed that was waiting for her. It surprised her then greatly when Sasuke and Naruto suddenly stopped in front of her. She blinked confused, first worried that they were hurt but seeing no injuries she sighed, placing her hands in her sides as she waited to tell them what they wanted from her. All she wanted was a shower and a bed to pass out on, was that really too much to ask?

"Good we caught you," Naruto panted, his hands resting behind him.

"What's wrong?" Sakura asked, raising her eyebrow at their strange behaviour. "And what are you holding behind your back?"

As if he was waiting for that question, Naruto smiled brightly, shoving his hands forward and showing her a cat. Sakura stared at him, not saying anything as the thing stared back at her.

"What's with the cat?" She asked; finally looking up from the cat to her team mates.

"Well we found this cat on the street and asked around if anyone knew the owner but it seems no one knows the cat. And since I'm not allowed animals in my building and Sasuke hates animals in his house we wanted to give it to you. We thought you might like a pet."

Sakura sighed, rubbing her forehead tiredly. "And why would I want a cat?"

"Ah c'mon Sakura-chan! He's cute and doesn't he remind you of someone?" Now that she looked closer it looked a lot like her sensei, the silver fur standing every way like his hair, the mismatched eyes and even the scar over his left eye.

Narrowing her eyes she glared at the two. "You didn't hurt this animal to make the scar did you?!" Her voice sounded pissed.

Naruto gasped shocked, pulling the animal once again close to his chest. "Of course not! I wouldn't hurt an innocent animal."

"What about the rabbit Dobe?" Sasuke asked, smirking at the memory.

"He wasn't innocent! He was evil!" Naruto yelled back. They started an argument while Sakura shook her head tiredly. She stared at the cat once again who looked back at her. It really was creepy how much he looked like Kakashi.

"Stop it you two!" She snapped effectively shutting the two up and Naruto turned towards her once again.

"Sorry, Teme distracted me again."

" Hn."

"Shut up!" Naruto growled before he thrust the cat into Sakura's arms. Not expecting him to do that, Sakura stumbled, her arms flying widely as she tried not to let the cat drop and turned him in her hold so he was more comfortable.

"Repeating my question once again, why would I want a cat?" This time Sasuke answered.

"It isn't that bad Sakura. You've been alone quite awhile and we thought you might want some company especially after what happened to-," He was silenced when Naruto slapped him on the back of his head, hissing at him to shut the hell up.

Sakura's eyes dulled and tilted his head down, knowing what he was talking about. Even if a half a year had passed, she still hadn't gotten up the courage to go back to her childhood home to clean their stuff up. Feeling the cat slip away a little she tilted him up better making sure he wouldn't fall out of her grip.

"I'm sorry."

"It's alright," Sakura answered softly. Just wanting to go home she knew she had no other choice than to take the cat with her. Only then would Naruto let it drop and she was an animal lover after all. "Fine, I'll take it."

"Cool Sakura-chan!" Naruto beamed and watched her walk away, the cat resting in her arms, but quickly yelled after her, "He doesn't like cat food by the way!"

That stopped her for the moment, and turned around confused. "Then what am I supposed to feed him?"

"Just give him what you're eating! Have fun!" and with that both boys disappeared.

Shaking her head tiredly she continued on her way, adjusting the cat in her arms as she grabbed her key to enter her apartment. When the door was finally opened, she let the cat go on the ground and kicked the door closed. Throwing the keys on the small table next to the door, she took off her shoes before she walked further in. The cat in question had already claimed a spot on her couch.

"If you even think of sharpening your nails on my stuff, you're going to be a nice wall decoration," Sakura growled at the cat as she saw him stretch his paws. Her eyes darkened as she glared at the animal.

Walking into the kitchen she started to make some dinner. When she was finally done and turned around to eat at the dining table she was the cat sitting on her dining table, his head tilted in an angle as if he was begging for some food too.

Remembering what Naruto said, she grabbed a small plate, scooped some food on the plate before placing it before him. He closed his eyes briefly and for one second it looked as if he was smiling before he titled his head down and started to eat. Smiling softly at the cat she sat down herself and started to eat while reading one of the scrolls from work. Not really hungry herself; she only at a part of the meal and after a few minutes when she'd stopped eating; she heard something chewing close to her.

Looking up confused she saw the cat in front of her, happily eating off her plate. She stared at him confused and turned her gaze to the small plate she'd given him. It was already empty and even licked clean. Shaking her head softly she softly petted his head.

"You're quite an eater aren't you?" She muttered softly at him. She watched as he licked her plate clean too, smacking his lips a bit when he was done. His tongue came out cleaning the spot around his mouth hoping that something was stuck in his whiskers and savouring the taste. He looked at her then while he sat down.

"You're not getting anymore food if that's what you're begging for." She stood up from her place and grabbed the two dishes and lay them down in the sink. Walking over to the table again she grabbed the scroll she had left there before making her way to the living room. Sitting down on the couch she closed the scroll and placed it on the coffee table not really in the mood for reading any further tonight. She jumped slightly as something hairy passed her bare ankles and stared at the cat that jumped up next to her on the couch.

"Well I suppose I should give you a name," Sakura started then. "You look a lot like a person I know, but I can't call you the same way as him, it would seem like a have a crush on him or something." She sighed and stared at him. "But no other name seems to fit you as well; also I don't think you want to be called Fluffy or Mr. Whiskers." She shuddered herself at the names, seeing Kakashi doing the same. There was no way in hell he was going to react if she called him either of those names! If she even thought of naming him that way he was seriously going to use his new claws.

"Hmm… What about Kashi?" Sakura wondered, and stared down at the animal.

Well it couldn't be much worse, and it was at least a decent name and not to mention a short cut of his own name. As a reply Kakashi walked over to his pink haired team mate and lay down in her lap. He had to agree with the cats that always seemed to curl up on the female's laps. It was soft and comfy and very warm. And after that delicious meal Sakura had cooked for him he really wanted to sleep. He purred softly when Sakura started to stroke him and before he knew it he fell into a dreamless slumber.

To be continued…