A/N- I got a couple of suggestions to give Naruto a phoenix for a partner. While this is an interesting idea, I feel that a phoenix would be too extreme even for Naruto. Again, I haven't decided whether or not I will give Naruto a partner. –Phoenix
Sakura and Katsu had grins on their faces when Tsunade announced their new ranks. They didn't even notice a certain blond haired ninja until he suddenly appeared right in front of them.
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto said happily. "Congratulations! I wish that I could've seen your other fights. How did you get so strong? Did Izumi really kick your butt during your training?"
The happiness that was radiating off of Naruto was so warm that Sakura didn't even flinch at the mention of her dead teacher. "Hello Naruto," she said with a somewhat shy smile. "It's great to see you again."
The smile on Naruto's face got even bigger. He turned his attention to Katsu and began poking the large fox on the forehead. "You sure got big Katsu," he commented. "The last time that I saw you, you were barely the size of an average fox."
Katsu growled half-heartedly at Naruto's finger. "My kind are bigger than the normal fox. You've grown too."
Naruto smiled smugly and pounded a fist on his chest. "I'm a Chuunin now. I train with Ero-sannin still as his apprentice, but I also train by myself when I'm in the village."
Before Naruto could go off on an excited rant, Tsunade cleared her throat. When everyone was looking at her she said, "Congratulations Sakura, Katsu. I expect the two of you at my office by eight tomorrow so that we can start your training. Did you want a Chuunin vest Sakura?"
Sakura shuddered. "Sorry Tsunade-sama, but I would rather not wear one of those vests. They aren't exactly my taste."
Tsunade smiled in amusement. "Seeing as you and Katsu did just fight four people, I want you two to take it easy for the rest of the day. You'll need your energy for tomorrow."
"Hai Tsunade-sama," Sakura said with a bow.
With a nod in return, Tsunade went back to the elders to talk with them. Once Tsunade was out of earshot, Naruto turned back to Sakura.
"Sakura-chan, would you like to go to get some ramen?" Naruto asked. "I want to hear about your training!"
Sakura looked at Naruto, hesitation clearly written on her face. "I don't know Naruto…" When Naruto's face fell she strangely found that she couldn't bear it. "Sure. Let's go."
Immediately, Naruto brightened up. Once Sakura said goodbye to her fellow Chuunin and gave Kiba some of her personal burn ointment, she and Katsu followed Naruto out of the stadium and back towards the village.
The villagers kept staring at Sakura and Katsu, but Sakura found herself feeling more and more insecure the more people looked at her scars.
When Naruto began feeling the tension rolling off of Sakura in waves, he added his glares to Katsu's and the villagers averted their eyes.
"Will you tell me how it happened?" Naruto asked softly.
Sakura traced the scars with her fingers and smiled dryly. "Maybe someday. But not today."
"I'll kill whoever did it," Naruto growled.
Sakura turned her head towards Naruto and gave him a cold smile. "I won't let you. He's my prey and you will not interfere with my hunt."
Naruto looked at Sakura in surprise. "Your 'hunt'? Sakura-chan, what happened to you?"
Katsu growled at Naruto. "Leave her alone," he snapped. "We haven't even been in the village for a week and we're both still grieving. The last thing that Sakura needs is to be interrogated by everyone."
"What do you mean you're grieving?" Naruto asked softly.
When Sakura stopped in her tracks, Naruto looked back and immediately felt his heart clench. There were un-spilled tears in Sakura's emerald eyes and she was trembling slightly. Naruto reached a hand out, but Sakura stepped back out of reach.
"Let's just go eat," she said softly.
Without waiting to see if Naruto was following, Sakura continued down the street. Katsu glared at Naruto before following his best friend.
What happened to you Sakura? Naruto thought sadly.
Lunch was rather quiet. Naruto's favorite ramen stand was nervous about Katsu, but when Naruto vouched for him they let the fox in. It was the first time that Sakura had eaten ramen since she left the village and the first time ever for Katsu. Katsu found that he disliked the taste of ramen which led to Naruto finishing the bowl.
After fifteen minutes of quiet, Naruto finally said, "Izumi is dead isn't she?"
The chopsticks fell out of Sakura's hand into the bowl and she clenched her fists together to force herself from crying. "Sukai too. It was a month ago. Naruto please, I don't want to talk about it."
"I'm sorry," Naruto whispered quietly. "If there's anything I can do, please don't hesitate to ask. I would do anything for you Sakura-chan."
Sakura pushed her bowl away, having suddenly lost her appetite. "Thank you Naruto. But I don't think that I will be able to ask anytime soon. Katsu and I have been on our own for so long that it's difficult to think of trusting anyone else. I hope that with time I will trust you with the whole story."
Naruto opened his mouth to respond when a disbelieving gasp sounded from behind him.
"Sakura?"
With a painful sigh, Sakura turned on her stool and gave the newcomer a pained smile. "Hello Sasuke."
The last Uchiha stood in the doorway to the ramen stand and was staring at Sakura in disbelief. He could tell just by looking at her that she wasn't the same girl who he had been on a team with. She had a stronger look about her, and it wasn't just the scars that tainted the rough beauty that she possessed. What surprised Sasuke the most though was the twinge of pain that he felt in his gut when he realized that Sakura had dropped the 'kun' from his name.
"W-when did you get back?" Sasuke asked, momentarily losing his composure.
Sakura shrugged indifferently. "Few days ago. I just fought some from our class and made Chuunin."
When Sasuke stepped into the shop he was met by a furious, snarling fox. Katsu had heard enough stories about the coldness that the Uchiha expressed towards Sakura and disliked the Uchiha on principle.
"Back off Uchiha," Katsu growled.
Sasuke took an alarmed step back. "What the hell? That fox just talked!"
Katsu bared even more teeth in his snarl. "My name is Katsu, remember it. And let me warn you now, I will not allow you to hurt Sakura again."
"Enough Katsu," Sakura said warily. "Let's just go."
Sakura put the money for hers and Katsu's meal and followed Katsu out of the stand. Before she walked away from a sad Naruto and a shocked Sasuke she stopped and gave them both a small smile.
"I don't know what Tsunade-sama will do after my month of training," she said softly. "But if we are put on a team together once again, I won't be the one watching your backs. Be prepared to watch mine."
With that, Sakura left her two former and possibly future teammates in the stand. Both of whom felt a warm spark in their chest while they watched her walk away.
Training with Tsunade was interesting to say the least. The very first day of training, both Sakura and Katsu were expected to recognize random parts of the human body. Tsunade made them identify everything from bones to the names of arteries. The testing wasn't difficult for Sakura who had already learned the human body from Izumi, but it was ridiculously difficult for Katsu who didn't know the difference between the lung and the liver.
While Izumi had trained Sakura to heal by guiding her though the process of healing anyone that needed healing, Tsunade had Sakura heal countless fish until Sakura could bring a fish back from near death in a second.
During Sakura's fish exercises, Katsu was given samples of poison that he had to burn out. Using his tail, Katsu would gently guide his fire-like chakra through the poison, burning it until nothing remained. Katsu learned shortly after the beginning of their training that each poison took a different amount of chakra and control. But, it was nothing that the son of the Kyuubi couldn't handle.
Once Sakura and Katsu completed the first step in their training, Sakura was taught how to use chakra to enhance the strength behind kicks and punches. Katsu received his fair share of training when he had to cauterize the many wounds that Sakura received during the beginning of her physical training.
After two weeks of intense training, Tsunade also added on hospital shifts to their schedule. Because of people's fears of foxes in general, Katsu was restricted to the trauma center where his poison burning and cauterizing abilities were most useful.
The best way that Sakura could describe her hospital shifts was 'now I know how a chicken feels when its head is cut off'. She spent so much time running from room to room that her feet would hurt more at the end of one shift then they would after a month of training with Izumi. Dealing with patients was difficult for Sakura at first mainly because people were apparently afraid of maimed medics who were trying to heal them.
One day, a week before Sakura's month long intense training course ended, Sakura was roused from her nap with Katsu next to her in the on-call room by a loud banging on the door.
"Haruno, get up!" the person on the other side ordered. "We've got three ninja coming in and we need you and the fox. An S-rank mission went wrong. Get to trauma now!"
Sakura quickly got up and wiped the sleep from her eyes while she roughly nudged Katsu awake.
"Five more minutes," Katsu moaned. "We've been on shift for over twenty hours."
"We'll have to sleep later," Sakura said while she pulled her braided hair into a bun. "We have three wounded ninja coming in and we're needed."
Sakura opened the door and ran to the trauma room with Katsu right behind her. When she got to the trauma room she was greeted by the usual chaos that occurred whenever a serious case came in.
One of the nurses ran up to Sakura, covered with blood. "We can't stop the bleeding," she cried. "His arm is nearly detached and he won't last long enough for Hokage-same to arrive if the bleeding doesn't stop!"
Before the nurse was even finished talking, Sakura and Katsu hurried over to the bed that was most crowded. When they approached, they pushed some of the panicked nurses out of the way so that they could completely see their patient. Sakura's heart dropped to her stomach when she saw who her critical patient was.
Lying on the bed, dangerously close to death and ghostly white was none other than Uchiha Sasuke. There were bloodied bandages all over his left arm which was only hanging on by a few strands of muscle.
"Damn it Sasuke," Sakura cursed. "Katsu, cauterize this bleeding while I try to keep the muscle from dying. Try to keep your chakra in the wound so that it doesn't burn me."
Katsu nodded in understanding and gently placed the tip of his tail on the wound. With delicate skill, he weaved his chakra through the wound, burning off the bleeders to prevent the Uchiha from bleeding out.
While Katsu stopped the bleeding, Sakura summoned chakra to her hand. Gently, Sakura put her hand on the wound and weaved her chakra around Katsu's to save Sasuke's arm.
After fifteen minutes of intense work, Sakura noticed that Sasuke was beginning to regain the color back to his face. Sakura motioned for Katsu to stop with her head and continued to heal the wound. It wasn't the worst wound that she had ever healed, but it was still very difficult. Sweat was beginning to make her nurse's uniform stick to her body, but she completely ignored it.
Finally, Sakura had to admit that there was nothing else that she could do. She barely realized what was going on when she felt herself being pushed into a chair and a glass of water being thrust into her hand. When she looked up she found herself looking at Tsunade.
"Tsunade-sama," Sakura croaked out. "I-I did everything that I could, but I don't know…"
Tsunade put a comforting hand on Sakura's shoulder. "I've been here for the past ten minutes Sakura, watching you and Katsu work. You were both brilliant. Katsu," she said turning to the sitting fox. "You stopped a deadly bleed without harming Sakura with your chakra. Sakura, you saved his arm."
Sakura and Katsu smiled tiredly. "Who were the other two?" Sakura asked fearfully, knowing full well who was on the same team as Sasuke.
The proud smile on Tsunade's face faltered. "Kakashi and Naruto, they're okay though," she added hurriedly when Sakura's eyes widened in fear. "Kakashi overused his Sharingan and is unconscious and Naruto is struggling against the restraints that we put on him to check on Sasuke. When you're able, I think you should go calm Naruto down. The brat has two broken ribs and a laceration to his leg that are not getting better with him thrashing about like a mad man."
"Hai Tsunade-sama," Sakura said with a tired smile.
When Sakura's legs no longer felt like jelly, she and Katsu went to find the room where Naruto was being kept in. It wasn't difficult to find him; they just followed the indignant yells.
"Let me go!" they heard him shout when they were right outside the door. "I have to see Sasuke!"
With a tired sigh, Sakura opened the door. Lying on the bed, or more appropriately tied down on the bed, was Naruto. He had bandages covering his leg and his face was slightly pale, but other than that he looked better for wear.
"Sasuke is fine Naruto," Sakura said tiredly.
As soon as the words left her mouth, Naruto was staring at her with unsuppressed relief. "Sakura-chan! Is the teme really okay? The idiot tried to use Chidori on a swordsman and nearly got his arm chopped off as a result!"
Sakura walked over to Naruto and put a gentle hand on his leg. Using her chakra, Sakura assessed the blonde's injuries. Naruto's wounds were healing at an alarming rate; Sakura assumed that it was due to the demon that he was caging.
"You need to stay still or you'll never heal," she told him quietly.
"I can't stay in bed when my teammate is wounded," Naruto protested. "Come on Sakura-chan; let me go make sure that he's okay!"
Sakura shook her head firmly. "Katsu stopped the bleeding and I healed Sasuke personally while Tsunade-sama watched. He will be fine."
Naruto relaxed but he continued to fidget on the bed.
"What happened?" Sakura asked after a minute.
"We were doing recon on the Akatsuki," Naruto said quietly.
At the mention of the Akatsuki, Sakura flinched and had to sit down on the chair before her legs gave way. Beside her Katsu was growling in his throat and his black eyes were beginning to get red. Sakura put a comforting hand on his shoulders and Katsu's eyes returned to normal.
Silence filled the room and Sakura felt her heart begin to race. "Who was it?" she asked after a moment.
"Kakashi-sensei fought this guy called Tobi while Sasuke and I fought this shark guy."
If Sakura hadn't been sitting down already she would have crashed to the floor. She had hoped that Kisame would have fallen to the clot that she had formed in his heart, but her hopes were quickly extinguished. Even a second-rate medic ninja could have gotten rid of the clot.
"Sakura-chan, are you okay?"
At the sound of Naruto's voice, Sakura realized that she had her hand rested on the scars left by Samehada and her whole body was trembling. Biting her lip, Sakura brought her hand back to her lap and fought to regain control of her trembling.
"I'm fine Naruto, it's just been a long day," Sakura said with a small smile.
Naruto's eyes narrowed at the reaction that Sakura had when he mentioned the fish Akatsuki, but he decided to let it go. "So…the teme will really be okay?"
Sakura nodded and gave Naruto an encouraging smile. "He won't be able to use his arm well for a while. I wouldn't be surprised if Tsunade-sama took him off of the active roster for a few weeks."
"Sasuke will hate that," Naruto said with a grin.
They spent another hour talking about Naruto's mission. The reason they were sent on the mission was because of some rumored Akatsuki activity in the Land of Wind. Naruto went on to explain that Konoha now had an alliance with Sungakure which was the village that Gaara was now Kazekage of. When Konoha had received word of potential Akatsuki activity near the Land of Wind, Tsunade had sent Naruto and his team to assist in the recon. Naruto then explained that they hadn't even made it to the meeting spot when they were attacked. He bit his lip in anger when he told Sakura that they had to be rescued by the Kazekage's brother and sister and that the two Akatsuki members had gotten away.
"So he's still alive and has regained his strength," Sakura whispered.
"What was that Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked when he didn't hear her.
Sakura shook her head and gave Naruto a strong smile. "Don't worry Naruto, we'll get them." With a fierce gleam in her eyes, she leaned forward and whispered in his ear, "We'll stop them from getting anymore Jinchuuriki…I won't let them take you from me."
A/N- I had to add a little narusaku in this chapter! And to answer one review, yes this will be a romantic narusaku fic; it's just going to take time to get there. Also, I'm thinking of starting up another story (I keep getting ideas for other stories and I must write them!) which will be a Fairy Tail fic. Even though Fairy Tail is a popular manga, it's not getting enough attention on fanfiction and I want to add my story to the small collection. Please review! -Phoenix
