Sakura blew out a breath and looked to the clock for the third time in the past five minutes.

She was use to him being late -he was always late- but usually it was only by about an hour or so, not by three. She had even waited to start on dinner until the first hour had almost passed since she was so used to his aversion to punctuality, but now the steaks and potatoes were in the oven in a poor attempt to keep them warm and the mood of the night was shot.

Her doorbell rang and she was up and hurrying to the door before the chime had ended, though she stopped just before she jerked it open and frightened whoever was on the other side because it certainly wouldn't be Kakashi. He wouldn't ring the doorbell, even if he knew that he was in hot water with her for being so late to their dinner date. He would just walk right in with some strange and half-assed excuse, pretend like nothing had happened and would take her anger on with a small smirk and then somehow they'd end up in bed like they always did.

Sighing Sakura opened the door and looked around, puzzled when she didn't see anyone. "Down here." Grunted out a deep voice.

Looking down Sakura saw the smallest of Kakashi's ninken, the little pug Pakkun. "Pakkun? What's wrong?" He shifted and sat back, scratching behind his ear with his back leg.

"Ah, Kakashi sent me to tell you he can't come. A new mission called him away." Sakura nodded and sighed. She couldn't be upset with him about suddenly getting a mission -such was the life of a ninja- but she was a little aggravated that he had waited three hours to say something and made her waste all that time and an entire meal.

She rubbed her face roughly, "Thanks Pakkun. I guess I'll just... throw out the food."

"That seems like a waste, it smells good." Pakkun grunted, turning to go since his task was done with. Sakura was just about to turn and close the door when an idea suddenly hit her.

"Hey, Pakkun! Wait!" The dog stopped and turned.

"Since it would be pretty bad to let all of the food go to waste, why don't you join me?" The dog blinked at her a moment before he almost seemed to shrug, making his way past her and into her apartment.

Sakura took a phone book and a throw pillow from the couch and sat them in one of the dining chairs, scooting the chair in for him after he had jumped up and then placing a warmed up plate and a dish of water in front of him. She felt kind of silly for going through all of the trouble for a dog, but Pakkun was more than just a dog, and it felt kind of disrespectful and rude to sit his food out on the floor. He could talk after all.

They ate in silence for a few minutes before the dog spoke up. "So, why did you ask me to join you? Most people would have just saved the food." Sakura pushed a bit of her salad around with her fork as she thought about it.

"Well... I guess I just wanted some company. I've been feeling lonely the past little while and it's pretty sad sitting here by myself and eating a meal meant for two." The dog nodded and then seemed to think of another thing he wanted to say.

"We've been smelling you on Kakashi for a couple months now." Sakura choked on the sip of cola she had taken and fought not to spit it out all over the dog's face.

"WHAT?!"

He winced at her tone. "Your smell. It's been on him for a little while now, though we'd be the only ones to really notice since we're so familiar with both of your scents." Sakura blushed, embarrassed that the dogs had been able to smell her on him.

"And?"

He shrugged and delicately ate another one of the pieces of the steak she had cut up for him. "Nothing. Just felt like pointing it out." Sakura sputtered for a few moments, not really all that sure what to say. What did you say to something like that? Should she be concerned about how she smelled?

"That and the fact that it's the longest we've smelled someone on him." Sakura bit her lip and looked down at her plate, not really sure what to make of that.

"We're... It's nothing serious." Sakura muttered, and the dog eyed her.

"I never said it was."

They went through the rest of the meal in a strangely comfortable silence, Sakura getting up to take the plates to the sink. "Do you want the bones?" She asked and Pakkun sighed, jumping down to the floor. "I suppose. I'll give them to Bull, he'll enjoy them." Sakura nodded and put them in a little paper bag, rolling it closed so it would be easier for the dog to carry it.

"Here, and thanks Pakkun. It was nice having you over." He nodded and gently took the bag in his teeth, disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Sakura opened the door a few days later and to her surprise Pakkun was there again, though this time she didn't have to look down to see him. He was at her eye level, sitting on the head of Kakashi's massive bulldog summon -aptly named Bull- with the rest of his summons sitting around him.

"I told them about dinner, so they wanted to come over and I couldn't stop them." Sakura blinked and was about to open her mouth to say something when one of the dogs dashed in between her legs and into the apartment.

"Wow, this is great! It's so much cleaner and nicer than Kakashi's apartment! Look! Curtains! And hey! Her couch has little pillows! Ooh, it's soft too! And bouncy!" Sakura blinked at the gray dog that was currently making itself at home on her couch, not really all that sure what to say.

"Um..."

"Shiba! Get off of her couch! What if she doesn't want you on there?" A redish greyhound with bandages wrapped around its head and neck chastised, brushing past Sakura.

"What?! Why?!" Sakura wondered how on earth the dog could be shouting every single thing he said. Even Naruto on his worst day didn't yell as much as he did.

"You know how some humans are. At least ask before you come in here." Said the hypocritical ninken. All eight of the summons turned to look at her and Sakura shoved her hand through her hair. She had said she had been feeling lonely.

"Ah, yeah. I guess it's okay as long as you guys don't make a huge mess." She said, moving so the other dogs could get in and out of the hallway.

Three of the dogs got on her couch as Pakkun made himself at home in her favorite armchair. Bull settled down on the rug she had laid out in front of her bookshelf, thankfully not attempting to try and squeeze his large girth onto any of her furniture. The dog that was wearing sunglasses had decided that it wanted to hide under her coffee table while the other two settled on the floor.

"What's for dinner?" An angry looking dog with light brown fur asked, lazily rolling over so his belly was exposed. Sakura blinked, wondering how she had went from a depressingly quiet apartment to one that was filled with eight very un-quiet and slightly rude dogs.

"Um, I was just going to fix some chicken." Though she'd have to go out and buy more since the bag she had laid out obviously wouldn't be enough to feed all of them.

"And Pakkun got to have steak? That hardly seems fair."

"Urushi! Don't be ungrateful! She could have turned us away and given us nothing." It seemed that the red greyhound was the voice of good sense in the group. Sakura pulled her shoes on and the attention of all eight of the dogs snapped back onto her.

"Where are you going?"

"To the supermarket down the block. I'll need more stuff if you guys are all going to want to eat. Just stay here and look around the place, I guess, or watch some TV." She said, leaving the apartment unlocked since it really couldn't be safer with eight ninja dogs who were able to rip a person limb from limb without any effort.

When she got back and was finished with cooking she had enough food fixed to feed a small and starving army. Getting everyone seated at the table was a problem since it was only supposed to fit four, but they simply moved into the living room to eat off of the coffee table.

Sakura had to admit that having all of them -even with all of the ruckus- was nice. She had never had a big family since it had been just her parents and her, but she hadn't realized how lonely it would be to move out and be by herself. Kakashi coming by to "visit" every now and then and her going over to his place passed some of the time, and Ino popped by unannounced enough that she was usually busy, but recently they hadn't really been coming around because of a sudden increase in missions and it had been lonesome.

But now, eating in the middle of her living room with the eight of them, she was anything but lonely.

"Cherry Blossom! Cherry Blossom!" Sakura blinked and turned to Shiba, wondering when the overly excited hound had come up with her nickname, though it was kind of flattering that he had decided he liked her enough for one.

"Yes Shiba?"

"I'm tired! Let us stay here!" Sakura stared at him for a minute. Sure, it was fun having them over for supper, but staying the night? She didn't let Kakashi spend the night, but could she let his dogs?

"Shiba, what if she doesn't want us here?" The dog turned to her, looking like he was about to cry.

"Cherry Blossom, you don't like us?" All of them turned to her and she shook her head, trying to quickly quell their fears. "What? No! I wouldn't have had let you guys come in here and eat all of my food if I didn't liked you."

"So we can stay?" She nodded slowly, figuring that it wouldn't be too bad to have some company for a night.

"Yeah, sure."

She was in the bathroom washing her face when one of them scratched on the door. "Cherry-chan! Cherry-chan!" Opening the door she looked down to see the small brown floppy eared dog with dark rings around his eyes and the kanji for 'shinobi' on his forehead. Apparently he had decided to shorten her nickname.

"Bisuke? What's wrong?"

"Shiba is hogging the bed and won't share." Sakura blinked.

"My bed?" He nodded and she stomped into her room, finding it filled with the ninken. Shiba sat on her bed, snapping at the others when they tried to jump up with him. "Hey! Hey! Hey! Stop that! Who said you could get up on my bed?" She asked, and the gray dog blinked up at her sheepishly.

"But it looks comfier than the floor!"

"So? And even if I had said you could you'd have to share!" His head dipped down and he jumped down, the perfect picture of dejection. "But I just wanted to sleep with you, Cherry Blossom." He whined.

Sakura knew that she should make her stand and steel herself against the hurt puppy eyes he was flashing at her because if she folded now they'd probably keep on asking for more and she'd never have a moment of peace.

But damn it, he made her feel like she had just kicked him out in the cold and rain.

"Fine," She sighed, Shiba and the other dogs perking up immediately. "You can sleep with me. But share." She warned. The dogs practically shook with their excitement and they could barely stay still as she took off their little vests and forehead protectors for them.

She slipped under her covers, snuggling into the warmth and lifting the blankets when Pakkun nudged for her to do so, slipping down and curling up on her other pillow. Shiba stretched out down near the foot of the bed, the others finding various spaces and flopping on top of each other or curling up against her back. Bull lumbered in and curled up on the floor against the side of her bed, undoubtedly making it more difficult for her to get up in the morning.

"Your bed is better than Kakashi's!" Shiba declared, and Sakura's lips twitched, knowing this to be the truth. For some reason the man had decided to keep the same mattress his entire life and make it unbearable for anyone but him to sleep on it with all of its the lumps and random springs sticking up to poke you in the hip if you rolled over. She supposed it was to discourage women from spending the night with him, and apparently it worked on his ninken too.

"Can we come over and spend the night again?"

"Yeah." She said quietly, not bothered by the thought of her apartment constantly being filled with the dogs in the least.

Sakura was leaning back against Bull's side and reading while the last of dinner finished cooking when there was a lazy knock at her door. Knowing that it could only belong to one person she closed to book and got up to answer it, though she let him stew for just a few more minutes before actually doing so.

"Hello, Kakashi."

"You changed the locks."

"I did." He'd still be able to get past them, but with her new body guards they'd probably attack him before they knew who it was if he tried it.

"You stole my ninken." Sakura sniffed and cocked her hip, looking the man over. He had obviously just gotten back from his mission and was covered in blood, mud and something else that smelled terribly foul.

"I did no such thing. They're coming over on their own free will because they like me." As if he didn't trust her words he slipped past her, leaving her to roll her eyes and close the door behind him. He was obviously in a bad mood from his mission and coming back to discover that she had "stolen" his dogs probably hadn't helped anything.

Shiba looked up and jumped down off of the couch, coming to stand in front of Kakashi, wiggling as he obviously restrained himself from jumping on him and worsening his mood.

"Kakashi! Kakashi! Cherry Blossom is making us shrimps wrapped in BACON!" Kakashi turned to her, his eyebrow raised.

"Cherry Blossom?"

"It's what he calls me." He looked both amused and condescending, like an adult looking towards a child, making her bristle. "I don't care what you think, I think it's sweet."

"Shrimp and bacon?" She shrugged.

"They get really excited when I wrap things in bacon for them."

"They have a diet, Sakura. If you feed them the wrong things they'll get fat." All of the dogs' faces seemed to visibly fall. Sakura knelt down and wrapped her arms around Shiba's neck, cuddling him close as she looked up at Kakashi.

"A little bacon can't hurt them, and I give them carrots and stuff. You can be all strict and no fun when you get them back to your place, but here they can have what I want them to have." Shiba nuzzled her face affectionately and licked her cheek, pulling a giggle from Sakura.

Kakashi stared down at her unmoved. "Sakura..." She sighed and stood up, rolling her eyes at him.

"Just hush and go take a shower so you can stay for dinner with us. You look and smell terrible." He narrowed his eye at her but she shooed him away and towards the bathroom. She grabbed the spare set of clothes he kept at her apartment for the times he came to her for medical help and sat them on the counter for him, and was just finishing up the last bit of food when he walked into the kitchen.

"So, how did you become keeper for my dogs?"

"I don't really know." She said, distributing the meal on the plates with just the right amount for each of the dogs. "It started out with me giving Pakkun a steak and then they all wanted food and then somehow it ended up with them coming over practically every day and at least one of them spending the night every night."

"And you don't mind?" There was a tinge of disbelief in his voice that made Sakura sigh and roll her eyes, pushing past him to start to serve the dogs.

"No, I don't. They're all very sweet and are really good company." She looked back in time to see a look in his eye that made something in her that she didn't quite understand tingle, but just as soon as soon as it was there it was gone.

"So they get food and a bed and I get...?"

Sakura smirked at him as she passed him again, handing him a plate. "That really depends on how good you are, now doesn't it?" Kakashi paused a moment before smirking back and following her into the living room.

"Now that hardly seems fair."

I'm going off to college next fall (I got accepted!) and I was thinking about how it's going to be kind of lonely without everyone there and then this just hit me.

I had to make up the dog's personalities according to how they looked in the pictures I found (other than Pakkun).

Love you all! I hope you all live beautiful lives as the beautiful people I know you are!