The Remnants

Sakura looked flustered and unsure of what she should do. She had given her word to the wolf, to Itachi, that she would let him stay with her. Sakura hadn't gone back on her word since she was old enough to understand the misgivings of such an action. After five minutes of pacing around the room and a lick on the cheek from the wolf, Sakura decided that it would be harmless, actually beneficial to keep Itachi at her house. She could keep an eye on him and make sure that he caused no harm, and no one would know. Besides, she had always wanted a pet; she just never expected to have a wolf.

"Well, I suppose there's no harm in keeping you, as long as o one finds out," Sakura told the wolf reassuringly, as the poor thing had looked massively worried.

Itachi's wolf muzzle nuzzled into Sakura's sock-clad foot in thanks. Then the wolf stretched like a person would right after a particularly restful nap, which reminded Sakura of how dirty Itachi still was. She didn't want her immaculate house to be dirtied, so she got to work at once.

"Itachi! Come here, you need a bath!" Sakura ordered. "Oh, don't give me that look, I'm not going to wash you, you can wash yourself! And try not to make a mess! On second thought, I'll just carry you," Sakura finished, scooping Itachi up into her waiting arms. The unsanitary, black-furred wolf made itself comfortable in Sakura's arms, snuggling into her chest as if it were a young child in its mother's arms, although the intent was not quite the same.

Sakura put Itachi down on the floor mat inside her lavatory and drew the bath for her new… pet whilst humming a tune that sounded unnaturally similar to "Riot" by Three Days Grace. One could only wonder how such a sweet young Naruto character could come to know such a violent song created by a Canadian band.

When the bath was finished filling, Sakura lifted Itachi into it and left, telling him to wash himself with the soap that she left floating next to him. She seemed sure that the wolf was capable of such a task and left the room to make breakfast for herself and find something to give Itachi.

Fifteen minutes later, Sakura had finished partaking of her breakfast and walked up the stairs to check on Itachi. He was sufficiently clean and waiting to be taken out of the bath and dried off, which Sakura aided him with, although the proud wolf shook his own fur dry, spraying Sakura and the walls with water. He gave Sakura an apologetic glance and then started down the stairs, waiting at the bottom for Sakura to catch up.

"Are you hungry?" Sakura asked, and the wolf nodded. "Well, I have some raw fish and also some yakisoba noodles, because I wasn't sure if you'd retained your human palate or not." Sakura laid said foods in front of the wolf, who sniffed surreptitiously at both foods, and then decided that he would prefer the yakisoba.

"Well, I have to leave you here, I'll be back in a few hours, so don't get yourself in trouble. I might bring you back something because you've been good, and you're free to use the television. Good bye!" Sakura said, heading out the door towards her meeting with the Kazekage. Itachi just sat there, staring after her and wondering if he would bore himself to death, as there are only so many things that a wolf can do to entertain itself.

An hour later, Sakura was let out of her meeting and was walking in the general direction of the marketplace when she noticed that someone was following her.

"Yes," she asked, turning around so as to face the person.

"Hello, Sakura," answered the person, leaning in close to her ear as they did so and licking the shell of Sakura's ear after completing that last syllable.

The person, a fair-haired and evidently perverted male stepped toward Sakura, backing the unknowing girl up against a wall and then blocking her against the wall with an arm on either side of her head.

"We're going to have some fun today, aren't we Sakura?" the man said, moving his face closer to Sakura's.

Sakura tried to speak out against the man, to break free, to move at all, but she found that she couldn't.

"Ah, so you enjoy the effects of my jutsu? I thought that you were a great ninja, but you have been caught off guard by someone who is not even a ninja. For that, you must be punished, but don't you worry, you'll have the best punishment of your life…" the strange man finished, cupping Sakura's chin with one hand while the other moved to the front of her shirt. Sakura's eyes held a look of anger and horror at what the man was doing to her, and it was easy to tell that she was frustrated with herself for not noticing him use a jutsu on her. The man's hand was exploring a spot on her shirt where it wasn't welcome. The man's lips moved closer to Sakura's and were just millimeters away when he suddenly fell to side, and Sakura could move again.

Sakura's eyes flitted about to find her knight in shining armor, and her vision settled on a certain acquaintance of hers that was currently mauling and maiming the pervert that had just sexually assaulted her. Unfortunately, the man was dead before Sakura could stop her friend, but she smiled nonetheless.

"Come along, Itachi," she said. "And thank you for coming when you did. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't been there."

With that said, Sakura picked the wolf up, kissed its forehead, and scratched it behind the ears as a reward.

"You're not so bad, Itachi," she continued.

A/N: The second chapter is completed. I hope that you enjoyed reading this rather than feeling as if you just wasted precious time in your life reading this. Again, whoever would like to, feel free to flame, because I welcome whatever criticism you give. Oh, and someone was commenting on how it's strange that Itachi became a wolf when his name means weasel. Well, there's a reason for that, one that shall be revealed much later in this series. Thank you for reading this.