DISCLAIMER: No matter how much I want it, I do not own Naruto. I am still only borrowing the characters and promise to return them in good condition – well, maybe slightly battered!

Chapter Three:
The Cat's Meow

I can tell you why people go insane
I can show you how you could do the same
I can tell you why the end will never come
I can tell you I'm the shadow on the sun
~Audioslave~

"Are you ready to go, Forehead?"

Sakura looked up from the piles of paperwork she had been steadily plowing through for the past several hours. Surprised at the time, she yawned deeply and stretched. "Just a minute," she said as she neatly put everything away while her friend impatiently waited.

Ino, idly staring out the window, gave a hiss of displeasure. "Oh look," she commented, "It's 'The Ass' and Naruto."

Sakura laughed. "When are you two ever going to bury the hatchet? This weird thing between you and Sai has been going on long enough, don't you think?"

"No way, he started it. Just the other day he told me that he hates to go on missions with me because I snore. Honestly, I don't know how I'm going to get through this upcoming mission without killing him."

"The one to the Land of Ogres? But that's this weekend. Lady Tsunade said I could go on that one so you wouldn't miss Shikamaru's wedding."

"Well she's had Naruto assigning the missions for the last week so you'll have to talk to him. Personally, I would be very happy not to have to go. Two weeks with Sai just doesn't sound like a lot of fun."

Sakura shook her head, smiled and then stood up and opened the door. She quipped over her shoulder as she walked out, "Oh and by the way Ino-Pig, you do snore… and quite loudly."

Together they walked out of the hospital and through the bustling streets of Konoha. Ino ran through a long list of complaints about Sai ending with, "I just don't understand why, in this whole entire village, Lady Hokage had to put that idiot in the apartment next to ours. The walls are paper thin." She turned and whispered, "I can practically hear him undress."

"Tch," muttered Sakura, "At least that's all you hear. If I have to listen to one more tramp screaming "Oh Naruto, Oh yes," one more time, I'm going to punch through that wall and truly give them something to scream about."

Ino giggled. "Wow, that didn't sound hostile at all. So what is the deal between you two?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Tall, blonde and totally sexy… ring any bells?"

"Nothing, we're just friends!"

"Is that what you want?" she asked knowingly. When Sakura didn't respond, it was answer enough for Ino. "Um hmm, tell that to someone who doesn't know you better. He's been in love with you since forever."

"No, he doesn't see me like that. Not anymore. Now I'm just his friend." As they stopped in front of a shop, Sakura stared unseeing into the window. After a few seconds passed she added, "He's got girls traipsing in and out of his apartment all the time. He doesn't want me."

"Sakura, none of those girls know him. Not like you do. They are with him because he's going to be the next Hokage. I can promise you this, if you just told him how you feel, he would drop all of them in an instant and never look back. You just need to make him see you as more than a friend."

Sakura shook her head sadly and said quietly, "But what if you're wrong Ino. What if I told him and he didn't feel that way. I can't do it. I would rather be at his side as a friend than not at all. I just can't risk it."

"Where is the Sakura I know, hmm? This is so unlike you." Ino rolled her eyes and shook her head at her blind friend. She said sarcastically, "You're just a little ray of sunshine aren't you, Forehead? Come on - cheer up, we've got that party tomorrow and you're not going to weasel out of it by claiming the need to work again."

"Pig! It's not an excuse. I have a lot to do here. And… I'm not sure I'm fit to be seen in public right now. I just can't picture me enjoying myself right now."

Ino looked into the dress shop. With a gasp, she pointed at one of the mannequins and said, "You will be in that dress. It's perfect for you." She grabbed Sakura's arm and dragged her inside. Ino snatched the dramatic, sexy outfit off the rack and held it up in front of her. "You have to buy this!"

"Ino," sighed Sakura, "That is not a dress, it's a rumor of a dress. It's barely forensic evidence of a dress. It's not me."

"It is you. This weekend, Sakura, I swear, I'm gonna make you have fun if it kills you... You shouldn't be afraid to show a little skin. Guys like that. I bet if Naruto saw you in this he wouldn't be able to take his eyes off you." She grabbed another and showed it to Sakura. "And I'm going to wear this."

Sakura rolled her eyes and looked over Ino's choice. "Speaking of which - how will you even stay in that outfit?"

With a wink, Ino said, "With any luck, I won't need to."

Stunned at her friend's admission, Sakura turned to her with wide eyes. "But you said you wanted to wait until you found the perfect guy."

"Yeah, I know. It's just… haven't you noticed it? Everyone's pairing off. It's like some sort of conspiracy. My mother said that the council has been putting pressure on the clans to begin fulfilling their betrothal contracts ever since we returned from the war."

"Betrothal contracts?"

Ino sighed heavily. "It's a clan thing; you know - continuation of the line, yada, yada, yada. Why do you think Kiba got married so quickly, or Chouji? Shikamaru told me that his father left behind written instructions before he deployed. He was the one that suggested Shiho as an ideal wife if anything happened to his match."

Sakura gasped. "Why haven't you ever told me? Do you have one?"

"No." Ino smiled sadly and fingered the necklace her father had given her when she was little. "Daddy refused to make one. He wanted me to find love."

"Oh Ino, I'm so sorry. I know how much you miss him." Eying the skimpy outfit with resignation, she said, "Come on, I'm supposed to meet the guys at the training grounds in an hour so let's go buy those outfits."

~o~O~o~

Naruto was already there when Sakura arrived. He was sitting under a tree with a stack of paperwork spilling out of his bag.

It just never ceased to amaze her; somehow without her seeing it, he had grown up. She studied him as he looked through the files in his hands, to take in the reality of the strength of his large body, appreciate the width of his shoulders or the long lean legs, muscles delineated by his training pants.

"It's not polite to stare," he chuckled without looking up. When he got no response he glanced up. "Earth to Sakura." Naruto waved an impatient hand in front of her face.

"Sorry, what were you saying?" Sakura turned a little red and shook her head as if to clear some unwanted thought from her mind. Naruto sat for a moment just staring at her. She had bags under her eyes and had lost quite a bit of weight in the last few months.

"I said, you need to eat some food, get some sleep, and take better care of yourself. I hate seeing you like this."

Sakura rolled her eyes as she always did and brushed his concerns aside with a mumbled, "I'm fine."

"Damn it, you're not fine. When is the last time you ate a decent meal; let alone slept for more than three or four hours a night?" Naruto was getting more and more frustrated with Sakura. He had watched as she took over as chief medic at the hospital and let it take over her whole life. She never took time off, and when she wasn't at the studio, she was in her home going over paperwork.

He wanted to pull her close and hold her until she listened to reason and took a much needed nap in his arms. Mentally smacking himself, he quickly let that thought slide away.

Sakura had been Naruto's best friend for years. She was one of the only people he could talk to who actually listened. His buddy Kiba was great to hang out with and drink with, but not a great listener; unless the subject was weapons or hot chicks. Sai and Sasuke were… well, Sai and Sasuke. Sakura; on the other hand, was one of the them but would also listen if he needed her to. She never judged, gave great advice, and was the most loyal person he knew.

Every time he started to let his romantic feelings for Sakura come to the surface, he quickly pushed them back down. He thought about everything he would lose if he told her how he felt.

If she didn't return his feelings, which at this point he was pretty sure was the case, there would be an awkwardness hanging over them every time he saw her. If she did have the same feelings and they tried and failed at a relationship, he would lose his best friend and girlfriend all in one shot. Girlfriends came and went, but a friend like Sakura was one in a million. That was not a risk he was willing to take.

"So what's on your mind besides staring at me?"

"I wasn't staring," she practically shouted in embarrassment. Alright, so she had been staring a little. It was all Ino's fault for putting such ideas in her head…

"…And if I was it was only in surprise to see you reading!" Oh god, why did you have to say that? "So, um - why are you here so early anyways?"

Naruto's blue eyes twinkled as he grinned at her. "Believe me, I wouldn't if I didn't have too, but Baa-chan gave me an important assignment. She wants me to do something for the benefit of the village."

Sakura lowered her body to the ground and took a few sheets. After perusing them for a few minutes she said, "There are a lot of good ones in here. Do you know what you want to do?"

Naruto had an uncertain look on his face. He frowned and then admitted, "No. These are all good, but…"

"But what?"

"Well," he hesitated, "I think I want to do something different."

"What do you want to do?"

"The kids…"

Confused, she asked, "What kids?"

"The war orphans. There are a lot, you know, with no families to take them in. Baa-chan even had to order a second orphanage built. There's just so many and their lost and alone. No kid should have to grow up that way."

Deeply touched at his compassion, Sakura sighed. "Oh Naruto, that's so… so sweet of you. You really will be a wonderful Hokage. So what's your plan?"

Well first I want to encourage the people to consider adopting and then I was thinking of starting some sort of big brother, big sister sort of thing."

"That's a really great idea. I would like to help if I can."

Naruto was about to turn her down because she had so much going on right now, but he couldn't get the words out. He knew it was selfish of him, but he liked the idea of spending more time with her.

"After I get back from that mission to the Land of Ogres."

"Land of Ogres? But Ino is the medic in charge of that one."

"But I want to go." She turned to Sai and asked, "You wouldn't mind me going rather than Ino, would you Sai?"

"Would you like the long answer or the short answer?"

"Hey," sputtered Sasuke indigently, "How come we never get that option?!"

Sakura rolled her eyes and turned back to Naruto. "I know you are in charge of the mission assignments, so let me go instead. Ino can go to the wedding and take over my duties at the hospital."

"I'm really sorry, but I'm afraid I can't do that."

"Why not?"

"Because Baa-chan specifically asked for Ino to go. It's out of my hands."

Angered, Sakura clenched her fists and snarled at Sasuke, "We're sparring each other today, right? Well, let's do it."

Sasuke sent Naruto a baleful glare as she grabbed his arm and dragged him to the other side of the field while Sai stared at him with a confused look on his face.

"What?!" asked the blond somewhat guiltily as he shoved the papers back in his bag.

"You just lied to Sakura."

"Yes, I did."

"But you did it so casually; no rapid breathing, no increase in perspiration."

"So?"

"So, according to a book I recently read, the lack of a physiological response while lying is characteristic of a violent sociopath."

Exasperated, Naruto asked, "Sai, are you worried about your safety?"

Sai stared at Naruto for a moment in quiet contemplation. He answered, "No, I imagine if you were going to kill me, you would have done it a long time ago."

"That's very true."

Still confused, Sai asked, "So why did you lie to her?"

"That mission's objective is to collect data from one of Orochimaru's old, abandoned labs and then destroy it. It could be very dangerous and Sakura just hasn't been herself lately. I just don't think she's up to it right now."

"You had better hope, for your sake that she does not find out."

"She won't as long as you don't say anything. Come on, let's spar. I have a date tonight."

"But I had to sleep outside last night…"

~o~O~o~

Thump.

"Oh, God."

Thump, thump.

"Oh, God."

You have got to be kidding me…

There was no confusion as Sakura was woken up this time, because she knew exactly what was going on. This time her bed didn't move because it was still pulled far enough away from the wall, but the noise was unmistakable. She tiredly rubbed her eyes and angrily stared up at the ceiling.

Then she heard an odd sound. The cat was hissing.

She looked in surprise at the cat, whose fur was all puffed out. His tail whipped back and forth and he arched his back, stalking around her bed.

"What's wrong with you Hachiko? Calm down. It's just that a noisy idiot of a neighbor, that's all." She tried to calm him by rubbing his head, but Hachiko would not settle down. She added, "A soon-to-be dead, loudmouth idiot of a neighbor." That's when she heard what had gotten him riled up.

"Meow."

Wait… what?

She looked at the cat, who seemed to be giving her a 'wasn't me' look. Sakura turned her head to the side with a confused expression on her face. She scooted up closer to the wall to see if she heard that right. She heard it again.

"Meow! Oh, yes. Meow, me-yow!"

The girl in his room was making cat noises. Although a little sick to her stomach at the thought of what he was doing, Sakura giggled to herself. Whoever heard of a woman meowing from sex? Then again… what, in the name of god, was Naruto doing to her to make that happen?

At another really loud meow, Hachiko, went absolutely crazy and tried to go through the wall to get at the female 'cat' that was wailing in heat. He threw himself at the wall again, almost knocking himself out. His yowls became louder and more insistant.

"Oooh yes, right there, Naruto Oh god, yes… …meow, meow, meow!"

Sakura stared at Hachiko in exasperation before grabbing the dumb cat to prevent him from hurting himself. All she got for her efforts was a long scratch on her arm. "Fine," she muttered, "Go ahead and knock yourself out then…"

The woman didn't sound like she was from Konoha. She had a slight accent although Sakura couldn't quite figure it right away. Cloud? Sand? She blushed a bit when she realized that she had her ear pressed to the wall.

But she didn't pull herself away right away. Instead she found herself trying to figure out the identity of the woman having sex with her teammate.

She whispered to herself before moving back to her bed, "You are being ridiculous, Sakura Haruno. What are you doing at 2 am in the freaking morning? Get a grip!"

She sighed to herself and then tried to calm the cat down again. She softly murmured soothing nonsense to him and gently rubbed his head, which he normally loved. Eventually she had to admit defeat as the cat would not be calmed. He was a male cat and was certain that a female was in heat in the next room. His cries continued getting louder and louder in response to the woman's meows until Sakura wanted to cry in frustration.

Sakura took a deep breath and let it out slowly and deeply. She could hear Naruto's low moans and knew it would be over soon. She refused to admit to herself that she was listening to him with bated breath, but she was.

He groaned loudly and his headboard began to slam into her wall. Yup, he was bringing it home.

The woman meowed louder and louder, Hachiko meowed louder and louder. Her meows turned into howls, until she finally screamed, "Jaan! Jaan! Jaan!"

Furrowing her brow, Sakura thought, "Where have I heard that before? Who always says that? Ah yes, Kankurō." She was from the Land of Wind. For the love of Suna…

His headboard slammed several more times in quick succession until it; thank god, stopped in one final bang. The woman finally stopped meowing too, but Hachiko didn't. He continued to meow in desperation for several more hours.

Stupid cat.

This had to stop…

~o~O~o~

Sakura was completely worn out by the time Hachiko finally quit his caterwauling. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't get back to sleep. She tossed and turned until her hair stood up in every direction before admitting to herself that getting any more sleep at this point was pretty useless. She tiredly crawled out of her bed and decided to make some breakfast.

"Damn him anyways… and damn her…" she snarled at the apartment next door. She shoved her blanket off and stomped out into the kitchen, muttering angrily to herself. After filling the tea kettle with water sitting down at the table, she stared unseeing out through her window, lost in her thoughts. She almost jumped a foot in the air when Hachiko wound himself around her ankles.

"Sure… now you're quiet, huh?" He gave a loud purr, to which she responded wryly, "And nice too, huh?" She rubbed the long scratch on her arm. "And to think I took you in, fed you, pet you, and this is the thanks I get?" she muttered to herself. She rubbed his ears as his purrs got louder and then commented, "First I have to listen to Miss Spanky pants and now this. What's next? No forget I said that, I don't want to know. God, I need some sleep… now I'm talking to a cat…"

She headed back into the kitchen as the tea kettle began to whistle and poured herself a cup before feeding the cat. She blew the steam away a took a deep swallow. Deciding that a hot shower would make her feel better, she sat down the cup and headed in that direction, but before she had even left the room, she heard the sound of a door opening in the hallway.

Quickly telling herself that there was nothing wrong with being curious, Sakura ran to her door and pressed her eye to the peephole to see look. She knew she shouldn't care, but she was dying to know what a woman who meowed during sex looked like.

Naruto was standing just inside his apartment so she couldn't see him, but she got a full view of Whiskas. She saw his arm reach out and his fingers run through her long, black hair. Sakura touched her own short, pink locks in consternation.

The woman was practically purring at the blonde jerk! "Mmm, Naruto-kun, I'm so glad I got to meet up with you again. Last night was wonderful," she purred. She leaned towards him and gave what Sakura could only assume was a long kiss.

After a moment, she pulled back and Naruto cheerfully said, "I couldn't have said it any better myself. It was really great. You should visit Konoha more often."

"Can I seek you out the next time I'm in the village?" she asked as she ran her hands down his chiseled chest. God, I hate her!

"Oh, please do," he answered, and then he ran his hands over her back and pulled her in for yet another kiss. The tramp's foot lifted like they did in Kakashi's trashy Icha Icha books. Sakura started to roll her eyes, but that hurt because she had it pressed so firmly against the peephole.

"Until next time," she murmured huskily.

This time Sakura did roll her eyes despite the pain. "God, can they get any more corny?"she thought rather testily. "Still, she does sound better now that she's not meowing like a cat in heat."

"See ya," he laughed, and with that, she gracefully walked away.

Sakura walked slowly away from the door and went into the bathroom. As she washed herself she kept thinking and wondering just what Naruto did to make her meow.

AN:

So you probably figured out by now that I'm obsessed with music - I like to put lyrics of songs that inspire chapter and what-not. Just for giggles, I thought I could see how many songs I knew with the word shadow in them and put them under my chapter header. Cuz you know - just thought I'd share that kind of useless knowledge with you!

Thanks to everyone that followed/favorited/commented on the last chapter!

For this week's Naruto/Sakura recommendation I have Do You Remember love by Digifruit. Naruto dies and then wakes up as a twelve-year-old genin. He discovers that the shadow clone technique duplicates his soul each time he uses it, and he is cursed to relive the tragedy that is his life over and over again for every soul he had duplicated. This story is so awesome. Actually, you should also check out Digifruit's other Naruto work because they all have the same sort of theme.

Ja Ne,

AZFAERYDUST