Sakura rolled her neck to try and loosen her knotted neck muscles as she scrubbed her hands free of her last patient's blood and other body fluids. Sakura watched as the last of the pink tinged water swirl down the drain and carefully dried her hands off before returning to her locker to grab the bag of bloody clothes she had changed out of. "Definitely a laundry night," Sakura muttered, hefting the bag over her shoulder with a deft twist of her wrist as she walked out. I wonder if I can get my clothes into the washer and blood-free before Mom or Dad get home, the medic wondered absently as she exited the hospital itself, waving to the receptionist on duty.

Sakura easily wove through the evening crowds in the streets, moving into the residential districts of Konoha. She hummed a light tune she had heard a few days ago, curious as to what she should make for dinner- Sakura stopped suddenly on the balcony outside her apartment. Naruto, under his Kitsune henge, was leaning against the railing across from her apartment door, a brooding look on his face as he stared at the floor, eyes blanked in concentration.

Sakura deliberately stepped on a creaky part of the balcony and stopped as Naruto's head snapped up and focused on her. The two stared at each other in silence before Sakura walked up to her door and unlocked it and opened it briefly to placed her laundry bag inside before turning to look at Naruto. Naruto looked her over carefully before speaking. "You haven't told anyone I'm back," he stated bluntly. "Why?"

Sakura snorted for a moment. "Because that's what teammates do," she replied in an acidic tone of voice. A flicker of surprise passed through Naruto's eyes before he blinked. Sakura sighed and rubbed at her forehead. "Look, why don't you come in?" she offered, pushing her door open.

Naruto's eyes widened in shock and he would've backpedaled if the railing behind him had allowed him to do so. "I, uh…" He risked a backwards glance and smiled as he calculated the sun's angle. "I have to go catch dinner," smoothly providing a safe excuse.

Sakura squinted at the sun and looked confused. "But Ichiraku's is-"

"Closed to do taxes, I know," Naruto finished, waving a hand. "Sakura," he paused, making sure she was listening. "Most of my meals don't come from within the village."

"What does that-oh." Realization dawned on Sakura's face and she sighed, looking down at the floor for a moment before looking up to see Naruto's slightly sad smile. "Well…If you're down in your laundry room in about an hour, I have a couple of loads to wash," she compromised. The pinkette was not about to let her old teammate slip out of her life once more without a fight. Naruto rocked on his heels for a moment, thinking before nodding hesitantly.

Sakura smiled and stepped back into her apartment. "See you in an hour then."

Naruto hunched protectively over his kill, still breathing heavily from the unexpected sprint. Should've know that even baby deer can run bloody fast…As his heart had settled back to its normal rhythm, Naruto grabbed his dinner by the neck and started hauling it towards the nearest stream- he always liked to eat by water, it made for an easier cleaning when he was done. Thankfully he did not have to drag the baby deer's carcass too far and was able to settle down to the important business of filling his complaining stomach.

Almost an hour had passed before Naruto licked his chops, blinking lazily as he contemplated the stripped bones in front of him before sighing and heaving himself up and sauntering over to the stream to wash his muzzle and forepaws free of the dried and crusty blood. Not that I care by any stretch of your puny imagination, but I thought you had agreed to meet with the pink haired bitch, Kyuubi spoke for the first time in a long while. Naruto froze for a moment before groaning as he quickly changed back to his human form and disappearing back towards the village in a reckless series of Shunshins that had his stomach lurching uncomfortably.

Sakura sighed as she crammed the heap of bodily fluid stained clothing into the washer, setting the water temperature to cold and dumping in a large amount of salt to help rinse away the stains of her profession. She had almost expected to find Naruto waiting for her, but the blonde or his persona was not present.

Sakura had just slammed the washer door shut with a little more force than necessary when Naruto appeared with his own basket of laundry. Sakura looked up in surprise to see Naruto carefully place his basket on a washer before toppling over to the ground with a loud groan, his face a rather interesting shade of green. "Note to self…" Naruto moaned from his sprawled position. "Never Shunshin repeatedly on a full stomach…"

Sakura snorted but walked over to Naruto and crouched next to him. "Doesn't your healing factor take care of this kind of stuff?"

"Physical things yes, but not sheer stupidity," Naruto muttered, gingerly sitting up.

Sakura laughed, pulling Naruto up onto his feet. "You'll be fine I think," she laughed.

Naruto nodded and moved his basket of vests, pants, under things and sashes next to Sakura's basket, eyeing the few garments Sakura hadn't managed to stuff inside the washer. Sakura watched as one of his shoulders twitched up in a minute shrug before he sorted through his own basket.

Sakura smiled slightly, reflecting how easy most a shinobi's laundry was most of the time. Most Konoha ninja used the uniforms provided with their rank or just bought duplicates of the same outfit. Same outfits meant that they were made of the same cloth and same color. That essentially eliminated the need for sorting anything unless it was horrendously stained (like Sakura's clothing). Naruto glanced up to see her smile and quirked a silent eyebrow inquiringly. That's something that's changed, Sakura reflected before explaining.

Naruto nodded sagely. "Makes sense to me," he commented, starting his first load. "My clothing is made of linen or linen-canvas for the vests and pants. The sashes are made out of cotton." He looked over in time to Sakura's eyebrows rise towards her hairline and rolled his eyes. "I have lived by myself for my entire life," he commented dryly.

"Well you shouldn't have," Sakura not-quite snapped.

Naruto nodded and did another of his minute one-shoulder shrugs, leaning against the humming washer. "True." His tone was tight and his hands clenched over the washer's edge. "But I had to and I did."

Sakura turned to glare at him. "That doesn't make it right."

Naruto snorted, his expression and voice bitter. "And what do you expect? I was the demon brat, the fox demon that killed the Yondaime and almost three-fourths of the shinobi force and about half of the civilians."

Sakura growled low in her throat, drawing a surprised a look from Naruto as Sakura glared at the floor. "Stupid fucking hidebound, close-minded villagers!"

"Let it go Sakura," Naruto muttered, slightly embarrassed that she seemed to be so enraged on his behalf.

"I did, Naruto! And that ended with you leaving the village for three years." Sakura's fists were clenched, her stance aggressive. Naruto's eyes widened as he looked at his former teammate, smelling the adrenaline and other pheromones of anger on Sakura. Sakura rolled her eyes, exasperated. "Get it through your head: I. Care. Don't tell me that you forgot Kakashi-sensei's first lesson."

Naruto let his gaze drop to the floor and he slumped. "No," he mumbled under his breath. "But how can we stay together as a pac- ah, team, when I can't stay in the village?"

Sakura stared at him for a moment before waving her hand to dismiss the point. "Then why are you still here," she asked.

"It's Sasuke," Naruto said gruffly. "Not going to leave him rotting in a cell. Besides," he rubbed his chin with a slightly guilty look. "As a sealer, the curse seal was a rather enticing challenge."

Sakura shook her in exasperation. "Right. But I'm sure that we could work out something with Tsunade-sama so that we could do missions together. When's Sasuke due to be released?"

Naruto shrugged absently. "Tail end of August I think. He's slowly responding to Seal's therapy," he replied, scratching his head.

Sakura brightened. "It's only August third now- that gives us plenty of time of think of something."

Naruto nodded grudgingly, his head perking up as he heard a familiar step approaching the laundry room. "Somebody's coming," he said, already sniffing the air to try and catch a whiff of the person's scent. He did so and pulled back with a jerk, eyes narrowing as Kakashi walked into the small laundry room.

"Maa Sakura-chan, Tsunade-sama needs you at the hospital," he drawled in his nonchalant tone.

Sakura blanched for a moment. "I just got off!" she started to protest before shaking her head. "Never mind. I'll be right there."

She spared a worried glance towards her laundry and Naruto shifted uncomfortably for a moment before offering, "I'll take care of your laundry. It's safe enough at my apartment."

Sakura threw him a grateful look before launching herself out the door without so much as a goodbye. Kakashi moved gracefully out her way and watched as she took to the roofs. "She's grown a lot," he commented softly, turning to look at Naruto's wary stance.

"Saa," Naruto commented shortly, moving to fold his rough piles of dirty laundry into neater stacks. "She'll be better than baa-chan soon," he acknowledged after a moment, eyes still focused on his task. Naruto heard Kakashi move deeper into the laundry room and felt his jaw clench for a moment- he did not like the thought of his former teacher being anywhere near his den, even a minimal part such as the laundry room. A near silent grunt and creak of metal nearby told the fox that the jounin had settled himself on a washer.

"I wonder much Sasuke has grown," Kakashi pretended to muse. Naruto could feel the man's gaze on him and felt his muscles ratchet one level tenser. "I suppose you would know, having fought him…"

Naruto slammed the last stack of folded laundry down abruptly, tired of Kakashi's lack of subtleness, knowing that the man was fully capable of being subtle, and turned to face his old teacher. "Either employ the subtlety I am sure you possess or ask me your questions," he all but growled.

Kakashi's usually languid gaze sharpened as Naruto let his fangs show- just a trifle, Kakashi was not the ignorant Kiba and while he was not Inuzuka, Naruto doubted that the Hatake would let him dominate that easily. "Fine then…Do you think it's possible for this Team Seven will survive? Do you want it to?"

Naruto forcibly relaxed his muscles and turned his attention back to the humming laundry machine. "I…" To his shock and slight embarrassment, Naruto felt his throat close up. "They're pack," he was able to force out. "My pack," he amended with possessive glitter in his eyes as he felt his throat muscles relax. Kakashi straightened out of his slouch, slightly alarmed as Naruto grinned, an edgy smile.

"At least you retained your loyalty," Kakashi muttered. "That's good Naruto. Like Sakura said, we'll figure something out."

Naruto nodded sharply, ignoring the implication that Kakashi had eavesdropped. "Maybe," he agreed cautiously. It would not do to find himself trapped in the village.

"Really, how has Sasuke progressed?" Kakashi pressed and Naruto scowled, rubbing at his shoulder for a moment.

"He's strong," Naruto admitted with only the hint of a grudge. "Physically at least."

Kakashi did not miss the implication. "Ah, but what about mentally? Will he be able to return to active duty when he is freed?"

Naruto shrugged idly, stroking the ends of his sash. "Leave things to Seal. I turned out fine didn't I?"

"That's debatable," Kakashi muttered under his breath but nodded. He trusted his partner to do his job in his usual fashion: meticulous, caring and thorough. "Well, I better get home," he eye-smiled as he moved towards the door.

Naruto snorted softly, making Kakashi pause and look back at his student. Naruto grinned widely. "I know who wears the pants in the relationship," he chuckled. "And I didn't even have to use my nose."

The skin that was visible above Kakashi's mask tinted pink and the jounin left without denying or affirming anything. Naruto grinned for a moment longer before turning back to the laundry, Sakura's washer having just beeped its finishing buzzer.

AN: Too tired....Too headachy...