A/N: Okay let's get things going with chapter two. I know it's a little earlier than probably expected, but I'm out of school for the summer now and have more time to devote to writing this stuff. This chapter has more of an action flare to it. Hope it's enjoyable.

Disclaimer: There are twenty-seven tacos in the magic spaceship for the ninja king. (I am not the owner of Naruto).

Sakura Haruno looked around as the sunset lit the familiar surroundings of the small quaint structure. She was back again. This time it was only three days after her last visit. She gave an exuberant smile as she forced her way into the Ichiraku Ramen Shop once more.

"Oh Sakura. You're back again." Ayame said smiling radiantly. "You must have really developed a taste for our ramen."

"Yeah." Sakura replied in a daze as she looked around the shop, noticing it was empty aside from her and the girl, "Where's your dad today?"

"Oh, he wasn't feeling well this morning, so I decided I'd work the shop by myself today." Ayame explained diligently.

"It must be hard, all by yourself." Sakura said sympathetically.

"Let's just say, I'm lucky that today isn't one of our busy days. Then I wouldn't know what to do." Ayame said with a slight giggle before remembering Sakura was here as a customer, "So you want your usual ramen today."

"Oh, that's right. Yeah." Sakura said also now remembering she was there as a customer.

"It'll be right up." Ayame said before turning to prepare Sakura's ramen. She wasn't lying as it was only a matter of minutes before Sakura's ramen was presented to her.

"Thanks a lot." Sakura smiled as she began to nibble at the bowl of ramen.

"It good?" Ayame asked.

"Very." Sakura replied with certainty.

"I'm glad." Ayame commented.

Sakura took a few more bites before returning the focus of her eyes to her host, "It must be hard work running this shop every day."

Ayame gave a soft smile as she formed a reply, "No, not really. I've got dad to help me usually," She pause a moment before adding with an air of indifference, "and making ramen isn't the most challenging thing in the world either."

"But you have to make sure that you make it just right every time." Sakura spoke, certain she was correct, "You have to make the ramen so it always puts a smile on your customer's face."

Ayame gave a light blush before responding in a tone of mild melancholy, "That's flattering Sakura, but there are a million girls out there who could prepare ramen the same as I do."

"I don't agree." Sakura shot back, wondering inside why she was going so far to defend this girl, "You make the best ramen I've ever had. You have a real talent for it."

Ayame's cheeks reddened further as she accepted the other girl's compliment. She shook her head before saying in subdued manner, "Perhaps. But I wonder why it's like that." She gave a faint smile as she paused then continued with, "Why there are people like me who can only make ramen, among the people like you who can do truly remarkable things."

"Being a ninja isn't too great." Sakura said assuringly, "It's a life of danger, regret, and pain."

"I know." The ramen girl replied with a slight nod, "But still, ninja can protect others, and stop evil. And with your medical training you can do even more to help people."

Now it was Sakura who gave a slight blush, "R-really, I'm not that great."

"It really is like we're from two different worlds." Ayame continued, ignoring Sakura's remark, "You're someone who has the power to do great things and really make an impact on others."

Sakura felt a defensive anger boil over in her as she said with force, "You impact others too! Every person, who comes here, every person who orders a bowl of ramen, ad receives it from you with a smile. They all are effected by you."Sakura calmed down a bit before adding sweetly, "You matter just as much as anyone else."

"Thank you Sakura." Ayame added forcing a full smile, "You are a good friend."

"And you're a good friend to me too, Ayame." Sakura replied happily at the sight of her friend's subtle smile.

"I'm glad. Being considered a good friend to a shinobi is a special accomplishment to someone like me." As she finished her words she was blushing a bit.

"In that case you're one of my best friends. And I'm sure Naruto and everyone else consider you a friend as well." Sakura said confidently. The fact that outside serving her ramen, Sakura really had no contact with this girl didn't seem to weigh on her words at all.

"You really mean that?" Ayame asked now a full red.

"Yep." She nodded, "It there's a better ramen shop in Konoha I'll never know, cause I'll be here." She smiled widely as she added this last bit.

"You're kind." Ayame said serenely, "All you do is see me here, yet you're so quick to think so highly of me."

"Well we could do more together." Sakura said in a offhand way.

Ayame gave an embarrassed pause before adding in a slightly nervous tone, "Uh, o-okay."

"I mean we should hang out sometime together when you're not working." Sakura covered herself, not noticing the awkwardness of her prior statement. "I mean your dad doesn't have you working all the time does he."

"Oh, no." Ayame said returning to a smile, "I get time off from time to time."

"Then we should go have some fun together some time." Sakura said happily, "I mean I'm not that brave, handsome shinobi you've been dreaming of, but we could still enjoy ourselves."

"I'd like that very much." Ayame said with a definite, enthusiastic nod, "But you wouldn't mind it with me not being a ninja?"

"Of course not. You're my friend after all." Sakura said dismissively, "and besides what does being a ninja have to do with friendship anyways."

Ayame nodded again before saying with a very content look on her face, "I like talking to you, Sakura."

"Yeah, you're right." Sakura acquiesced, "You're still the ramen server and I'm still the customer, but right now it seems more like were just good friends enjoying a chat."

"It's nice." Ayame said in agreement a slight blush highlighting her lovely countenance.

Sakura worked at her bowl of ramen for a few more minutes, until it was empty. She smiled as she prepared to exit. "Thanks for everything, Ayame. I'll be back again soon."

"See you then, Sakura." Ayame said as she waved goodbye to the kunoichi.

Sakura exited the ramen shop and walked briskly in the direction of her home. A wide smile still lit her countenance. It was night now. She thought about Ichiraku ramen as she walked. She didn't know ramen could taste that good. She wondered if she had, in her genius, discovered the perfect ramen combination and it was now her addiction. She doubted this. She wondered if, Ayame was perhaps, some sort of gift from the ramen gods imbued with the power to craft any ramen with unimaginable flavor. This seemed unlikely as well. Maybe it tasted so good, just because it was made with love by a friend Sakura found dear. This seemed most plausible. Sakura's only hang up on the issue was that she never thought of her friends this much.

Then a sound pierced her thoughts. A high shrill shriek pierced the night sky of the now sparsely populated street. Sakura was now a distance from the ramen shop, but in an instant her heart knew the origin of the noise. It was Ayame's voice. The kunoichi raced at top speeds back toward Ichiraku, contempt and determination swirling with worries and regrets as she found her way back to the restaurant.

Approaching the structure, she witnessed a man in a dark cloak race at near sonic speeds out the ramen shop and in the opposite direction. She began to feel her blood boil over as she yelled out in the direction of the shop, "Ayame! Are you alright!"

Ayame made her way out into the night to greet Sakura. She had a look of fear on her face as she opened her mouth to speak. "I'm okay." Ayame said, tears beginning to release from her eyes. "But he took the money."

"Money, how much?" Sakura asked now in a rage.

"Everything we made this week." Ayame responded now through heavy tears.

"Was it a lot?" Sakura asked as if she hoped to comfort the crying girl.

"Enough to do some serious damage to a small business like this." Ayame said in distress, "I-I can't believe this could happen to me." Her words broke a moment for tears, "What will father say?"

"He won't have to say anything." Sakura said with a look of disgust in the direction the robber had fled, "I'm going to get everything back!"

Ayame stopped sobbing to gaze up at her friend. Sakura's eyes glowed with an impossible determination. Ayame still shaking struggled to form a reply, "But it's dangerous, you could get hurt."

"I don't care." Sakura said with certain intensity, "If it's to help people I care about, I'd put up with any level of danger. I am a ninja after all."

"But he was so fast, I doubt you could catch him if you tried." Ayame spoke in a meek, dissuasive tone.

"I didn't get too close a view, but I saw him and I saw which way he went. If I hurry I have a chance of finding him." Sakura assured the other.

"Alright." Ayame said finding her calm in Sakura's continued determination. "But I want to help too." She paused before adding with new strength, "I wouldn't feel right, if it was just you facing all this danger alone on my account."

"It's better if I track him by myself." Sakura replied at once, "If you want to help, you can go inform authorities of the incident and get some help."

"O-okay." Ayame gave a nod as the two of them separated to perform their appropriate tasks.

Sakura flew at mach speeds in the path she had seen the shadowy man take. As she moved she wondered if it was in fact impossible to track this man now that his trail was near invisible. Giving up, for some reason, wasn't an option this time though, in her heart beet a desperate desire to retrieve that poor girl's smile at all costs.

Then out of the corner of her well trained shinobi eyes she caught a slight glimpse of some quick movement in the distance. She picked up her speed as much as possible in pursuit of this other rapidly moving figure as it twisted and turned through the winding Konoha streets.

As the gap between her and the thief closed, Sakura soon came to the realization that her object of pursuit realized he was being followed. She was being led in circles as if he was trying desperately to lose her. Soon, they passed Ichiraku Ramen once more, and Sakura began to wonder if she had perhaps made a mistake in following this man so closely.

Sakura caught the man in her sight, and as soon as he was in range fired an array of kunai in his direction as a hopes to deter him from reaching what Sakura knew was by now only a short distance ahead. The thief didn't stop in the slightest at the attack as he brushed the knives of his trail effortlessly with a swipe of his cloak.

It was inevitable then, that the two would cross paths with the unfortunate ramen shop worker as she ran slowly in the direction of help. Sakura felt a sickness in her stomach as she caught sight of Ayame on the horizon. She cursed herself under her breath for allowing such an unforgivable mistake to occur.

The cloaked man stopped at the sight of the ramen girl. Swiftly he grabbed the girl by the arm and forced her into a painful hold, drawing a serrated, blood-stained knife as he began to back away from Sakura's approach.

"You will end your pursuit or I will kill this girl." The man said in a deep serious tone.

Sakura studied the man who was the object of her infinite rage at the moment. He was a fairly tall man in his mid 40's in age. He had an unkept mess of graying dark hair on his head, and a poorly shaped short beard on his face. His left eye socket had a large diagonal scar and an eyepatch over it. He wore a ragged dark brown cloak and at his side he carried an old bag which was filled to the brim with his stealings.

"No! How about instead, you let her go now, or I kill you!" Sakura yelled with visible rage.

"Don't make this difficult, girl." The one-eyed man said shaking his head as he raised his knife to hover at Ayame's throat, "I will not hesitate to kill this girl if you make another step in this direction."

Sakura cursed herself once more, as she stared the man down. She wasn't going to give up if it was the last thing she did. She would rescue Ayame, retrieve what was stolen, and stop this man at whatever cost.

"Alright." Sakura said through her distress as she allowed her focus to travel to the terrified look on her friend's face, "Drop the knife, and I'll back away."

The man gave a soft laugh before saying in a somber tone, "I think you misunderstand the situation here." he paused and the added, "I'm the one who makes the demands."

Sakura didn't like hearing this. It was becoming hard to suppress her anger and frustration any longer, yet she knew one rash mistake on her part would mean the end of Ayame's life. The kunoichi feigned like she was retreating watching Ayame and the knife as she took several steps back. The thief's hand wavered slightly downward with each step she took back.

When she was confident her speed would be enough to overcome his, she decided to make her move. She gave a handsign creating two image clones of herself, each armed with a kunai. Sakura then proceeded to release kunai from all directions with precision aim so that the man was forced to defend himself with his knife. Closing the gap between her and her enemy, Sakura proceeded to deliver a punch to the ground at the thief's feet, splitting the solid concrete into a deep crevasse with incredible force.

The cloaked man, now realizing his opponent was a lot more skilled then he likely initially surmised, threw his hostage to the ground viciously with great force, eliciting an enraged cry from Sakura. Now with another free hand the thief drew a second knife and charged forth to engage the kunoichi in direct combat.

"You have some nice tricks girl, but I'm not to be taken lightly." He said as he felt his knifes be repelled by a single kunai of Sakura's

Sakura gave an angry grin before opening her mouth to spit, "I really don't give a damn right now! You've got me pissed off and, you're going to die!" She followed this taunt by delivering an incredible punch at the thief's stomach causing him to fall to his knees in pain. Sakura gave him little time to recover before adding to this a crippling kick that sent the man flying several feet.

"I stand corrected." The man gave a faint smile as he struggled to his feet."I've never fought someone this skilled in all my years." He cringed slightly before coughing up a small pool of blood then added, "Just who are you girl?"

Sakura gave a hard laugh at this question. "Ha, my name is Sakura Haruno." Sakura paused to give a taunting, malicious smile then continued saying, "The genius apprentice to the Fifth Hokage."

The man continued to writhe in intense and obvious pain, clenching at his obviously broken right arm as he took in Sakura's introduction, "I see, the Fifth Hokage..." The man shot another slight smile that was distorted by the blood still trickling from his mouth, "I suppose this is the price anyone who works against the law eventually pays." Then in a flash the one-eyed man was rushing at high speed toward his opponent once more a single knife still rested in the hand of his good arm.

Sakura gave a reluctant sigh as she swept the cloaked man of his feet with a powerful kick and then proceeded to send him back to the ground with a full-force punch to the back. His spine could be heard shattering as his frame went limp at the ground with a thud. Sakura could only flash that same reluctant smile as she took in the form of death before her.

"Sakura..." A faint call came to the kunoichi's ears and she turned at once to face Ayame.

Though he had proven no match for Sakura's incredible strength and fury, the thief in his own right wasn't helpless. He had clearly been a quite talented shinobi at some point in his years, and had had the strength to prove it. As such, Ayame's frame was bruised and battered to quite an extent from being thrown earlier. The ramen shop worker was still laying on the floor in obvious pain as the Kunoichi rushed to her aid.

"Here, I'm going to treat your wounds."Sakura said at once as she quickly analyzed her friends condition.

Ayame shook her head in protest as she attempted to erect herself to her knees but found the pain made it difficult, she looked away from her savior as she nervously lied, "No, I'm fine." She tried her best to force a smile before saying, "I just need to get some rest now."

Sakura gave a look of worried frustration as she too shook her head in response, " There are cuts and bruises all along your body and I can tell you have fractures in both your left arm and leg."

"You can just fix them when we return to the shop." Ayame replied, obviously still in a state of panic; the nearby freshly dead body likely also weighed on her reluctance.

"It's best if you don't move in this state." Sakura replied in an intense tone that led to the notion that she too had not settled her adrenaline from the night.

"But.."Ayame started to protest again but found herself cut off as Sakura began to forcefully undress her down to her undergarments in order to access her wounds.

Sakura held out her hand and began to apply chakra to the full of Ayame's left arm; she said in a serious, determined manner, "If I apply chakra to the wounds like this, I can easily heal slight fractures like these. If you moved around too much it could become more serious and require more drastic measures for you to heal."

Ayame blushed intently as Sakura moved from the arm to her leg. She could feel the other girl's chakra soothing her, funneling into the areas that pained her and dispensing with that pain. When Ayame felt the pain had left her body entirely she got to her feet and began to stretch her body as if to test Sakura's work.

"You feel better now." Sakura flashed a perfect friendly smile at the other girl as she too got to her feet and helped the girl dress herself once more.

"Yeah..." Ayame continued to blush a radiant red.

"I'm glad it's all over." Sakura smile became even wider and more lovely as she punctuated her words with a cute laugh. She then went to the dead man's side and retrieved the small bag of money and proceeded to hand it back to its rightful owner.

"Sakura..." Ayame said as if she was still searching for a what express what she was feeling.

"Yeah." Sakura answered, still smiling and still laughing.

"Thanks." Ayame replied with a certain un-escapable nervousness. She gave a gracious bow to the other before running off in the direction of the shop without another word.

Sakura was left to simply wonder what it all had meant.

A/N: I love this chapter. No, excuse me, I love this fic. I think this will turn out to be one of my better ones for sure. Hope you agree. For the OC villain in this one I took a different approach then usual. In stead of making him an adequate match for the characters I made Sakura flat out kick his ass. I was still able to create progress in the relationship without having to spend so much time on the OC, which isn't something I wanted to do for this fic. I didn't even give him a name yet and in fact the battle had him asking for Sakura's name rather than the other way around. So the next chapter will hopefully be just as good. Tell me what you all think.