Sakura stood under a large tree waiting for her sensei. He had left off on his own telling Sakura to stay where she was. She wondered what might have happened.
As she was pondering she saw something in the distance.
Sakura saw Naruto approaching in her direction. With him was Sasuke who was being supported by an arm. She saw his injuries and the blood on his clothes.
"Sasuke!" she said with worry.
As Naruto carefully set down Sasuke he briefly explained what had happened. Naruto knelt beside him and looked at him worriedly. He moved his hand and put it on Sasuke's shoulder.
Sakura quickly began doing some first aid on Sasuke. As she was doing so Kakashi also arrived.
"Sakura. You took the extra medical nin-jutsu course right?" said Kakashi.
"Y-yes" the young kunoichi replied.
"Then try healing that wound on his shoulder" said Kakashi.
"Ok..." said Sakura. She searched for the wound but...
"There isn't a wound on his shoulder sensei" she said wondering what her sensei was talking about.
Kakashi then turned to look at Sasuke thinking 'I definitely saw a wound there. Did I see it wrong perhaps?' But as he looked closer he noticed something odd.
Some of the bruises and wounds he had were suddenly no longer there. Kakashi frowned wondering what had caused it. He asked Sakura but she told him she hadn't healed him yet.
'It couldn't have been Naruto. He can only heal himself. And that too had its limits on Naruto's body' the jonin thought.
Despite this Kakashi ordered Sakura to try out her skills. The kunoichi knelt down and took a deep breath. She closed her eyes and concentrated. Sure enough green chakra flowed from her hands. Slowly Sasuke's injuries started healing.
It was around a minute before she lost it. She exhaled sharply as she felt the lack of her chakra. "Sorry that's all I can do" she said. She looked up to the sky and sighed as she felt light-headed.
Kakashi saw that she had minimised most of Sasuke's severe injuries. 'Most genin can only hold out for fifteen seconds' he thought, impressed by her skill. "For a beginner you've done well. Good work" he said to Sakura.
Naruto sat there quietly. He was glad that Sasuke was safe. But as he looked at him he once again noticed his injuries. He felt guilt piling up inside him. 'I should've gone with him' he thought. 'If I was with him, this wouldn't have happened. Why did I let him go alone?...I let him get hurt.'
With this overwhelming regret crushing his heart he said "I'm sorry...I couldn't do anything. I should've stayed with him"
Kakashi saw the look on his face and said "It's not your fault Naruto. Those guys weren't supposed to be around here"
Sasuke looked at the sad expression on Naruto's face and knew that the idiot was feeling guilty.
"It's not your fault idiot. You said you weren't feeling well. Who knows what would've happened if you hadn't stopped to rest and fought those shinobi instead".
Hearing his words Naruto's heart lightened. He somehow seemed to understand that this was Sasuke's way of saying 'I didn't want you hurt'
Sakura spent the next few minutes giving Sasuke some more first aid. She tried her healing jutsu every few minute with some short breaks.
Meanwhile Naruto and Kakashi searched for the cat. They finally found it after thirty minutes or so of searching in the forest. Naruto tried to grab the cat but it hissed at him angrily "MRAWW!"
Kakashi ended up taking the feline into his arms. Together they made their way back.
When they returned they saw that Sasuke was looking much better. All he had were some minor cuts and small bruises left. Sakura was sitting with her back leaned against the tree. She looked exhausted, since she had done as much as she could for Sasuke.
"Alright then. Don't worry about today." said Kakashi as he stroked the cat in his arms. "There were some unexpected challenges. Now-"
He stopped as he saw something approaching from the bushes nearby.
"Meoww" A black cat came towards them , its golden eyes curiously looking at the humans in its sight.
The cat in Kakashi's arms suddenly shifted itself and looked at the black cat that had appeared. "Meow?" it said.
The black cat went ahead near Kakashi. The ginger cat in Kakashi's arms leapt down next to it. It purred happily as it circled around the black cat. The black playfully nudged the ginger with its head.
The two were about to stray off so Sasuke caught the ginger one. It looked up at the human who had caught it and snuggled in comfortably.
The black one carefully approached Sasuke. "Meow?" it said wondering why its bf had stopped playing with it. It pawed Sasuke's elbow and stared at him. Sasuke petted the black cat and it purred in satisfaction. 'This seems familiar' he thought.
Sasuke looked at Naruto and then at the cats. 'Naruto. He acts like this when he's possessed'
The thought seemed to amuse him. He smirked as he looked at the cat in his arms.
"Girls, and cats. They sure do love you huh?" said Naruto.
He proceeded to put his hand on top of the black cat. But scooted away from him and stuck to Sasuke giving an annoyed "Meawwr!".
"Why do cats hate me?" Naruto said with disappointment.
Sasuke looked at Naruto who had a defeated expression on his face. It was a bit funny but somewhere in his mind Sasuke thought it was a bit unfair too.
Sasuke carefully lifted the ginger cat from his lap. He then carefully set it on Naruto's shoulder. The cat was hesitant at first but to soon cling to him, while resting on his chest.
"Meow" it said cutely.
Naruto smiled. He gently stroked the cat. "You're a cute little kitty aren't you" he said to it. He giggled as the cat jumped higher and sat on his shoulder. "Hey! Stop that! It tickles" he said while laughing.
Sasuke looked at the happy expression that Naruto wore in his face. His light azure eyes were brighter. His face had that joyful smile. All encircled by the dazzling blonde hair that looked spectacular in the sunlight.
Sasuke felt his heart light up from the inside giving him an exhilarating feeling. Seeing Naruto like this made him think 'He's cute...' . Sasukemoved forwards and stroked the cat as well.
Their faces were now very close. Naruto looked at Sasuke. He saw the soft look on the boy's face. His onyx irises were gentle and he was almost smiling. As the wind swept by, his hair floated gracefully.
'He's beautiful' Naruto thought all of a sudden.
On the other hand Sakura observed the two carefully. 'They're close...too close' she thought. She had used a lot of chakra so her head was dizzy and lightheaded. So she didn't think too much of it. But the image in front of her would be stuck in her memories for a long time.
Meanwhile in the dense trees nearby, the girl in the black cloak stood with a man who watched the two boys.
"Aww~ Look at 'em. They're so adorable" said the girl.
The man stood silently still watching.
"Hey, that Uchiha boy is your younger brother isn't he?" said the girl.
"Yes" said Itachi Uchiha.
"Oh...No wonder" said the girl with a smile.
"What?" Itachi asked.
"You and your brother seem to attract the same type" she said.
"And what would that be?" said Itachi.
"Annoying, loudmouth blondes" the girl said and then gave a small laugh.
Itachi merely sighed. "What happened to the shinobi?" he asked.
"Oh. They're all dead" the girl said casually. "That Kakashi guy is amazing! No wonder the leader's interested in him"
"What happened afterwards?" Itachi asked.
"Those Anbu guys arrived and cleaned everything up" the girl replied. "By the way...they almost killed Sasuke. And we sent them to go after the nine tails jinchuriki".
"This is a test. For all of them. We need to know all we can so that we don't rush in at the last minute" Itachi explained. "Let's get going. The Anbu are getting close" he said.
"Oh right" said the girl.
Together they disappeared along with the breeze.
The ginger cat on Naruto's shoulder jumped down again as the black cat meowed to it. They went on playing around with each other. The ginger one in particular seemed to love slapping the black one. In response the black cat slapped back and forcefully nuzzled the ginger.
Then the ginger circled around the black one annoying it as much as possible. The black cat snatched the ginger's tail which seemed to excite it. The ginger then nuzzled its head on the black cat and licked it ears. The black cat purred in content.
"They're pretty chummy eh?" said Kakashi with a chuckle.
Naruto looked at them and a thought surfaced in his mind.
"Are they a couple or something?" he said out loud.
...
Sasuke checked both of the cats.
"Baka! They're both male cats" he said.
"Oh-? Really? I didn't notice..." said Naruto.
Kakashi looked at Naruto and Sasuke thinking 'These little idiots just don't get it, do they?'
"Now now Sasuke. You know in today's world things are different" he said carefully. "Love has no boundaries. Not on gender, clan or even religion" he said. "Am I right Sakura?" he added with a sweet tone.
"Ugh...Yeah" said Sakura a little half heartedly. She was still feeling light headed. Also, she was too busy internally screaming how cute Sasuke looked with cats.
Sasuke glanced at Kakashi. 'No boundaries...' he thought, as the jonin's words echoed in his mind. He shifted his gaze and it landed on Naruto. 'As in-?'
'NO!' his mind interrupted. He closed his eyes and removed the thought from his mind. 'Absolutely not'
Of course Sasuke knew. The cut-sleeves of the shinobi society. Frankly, the only active kunoichi were either from prominent clans or those that exceeded their assumed expectations. Hence their numbers were far less in the actual field. It was perhaps because of this that gay shinobi had become the silent rising community in the shinobi society.
Naruto looked at Sasuke and felt his heart flutter. 'Not on gender...? Is that possible...? And...'
As he continued to stare at Sasuke his chest gave a lurch. 'Wait...What?! Me and him?! No way...That's not possible...That's stupid!' he thought.
Kakashi sensed the awkwardness. 'Maybe...I shouldn't have said that' he thought.
"Right. Let's grab both of these cats and we'll head back" he said. "Sakura. Are you good to go?"
"Yes. I'll be fine sensei" she said.
Kakashi scooped up the black cat and let Naruto carry the ginger one. They left the forest towards the village gates.
A/N : Sakura is given her medical nin-jutsu early in this story because I don't know how Rin mastered it at her age but Sakura wasn't given the oppurtunity to do so.