Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Sonic the Hedgehog.

Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto
Sonic the Hedgehog © SEGA

Note: It's HERE! Chapter One is finally here T-T

Thanks to: Planar-Walking-Entertainment, Haruno-Uchiha-Neko-lover, Super Sonic Wind, Christopher M

The Cherry Blossom and the Dark Hedgehog
Written by: Marik's Girl

Chapter One
I'm Not in Konoha Anymore…

Shadow had told her to rest, but she just couldn't… this, wherever this was - was not Konoha, let alone the Shinobi Nation. Plus, she had never seen anything like Shadow before - he said that he was a hedgehog, but she had seen Hedgehogs before, and they didn't look like he did, nor did they have shoes or gloves… she was surprised that she didn't freak out when she saw him… but he seemed nice regardless, even though he didn't talk much. Were there more like him? More humanoid hedgehogs? Or humanoid animals for that matter. What about humans? He did seem like he had seen humans before, so maybe - maybe she wasn't the only one here? Was this Earth? Now that she thought about it, he had mentioned that this was Earth. She let out a sigh and laid back down on the bed that she was lying on. At least the bed was soft. She closed her eyes and soon fell asleep, dreaming of Sasuke and Naruto. And in the back of her mind, she wondered where they were…

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"What do you mean she's gone!" Naruto Uzumaki made a fist. Even though Hinata had confessed her feeling to him - he still had feelings toward Sakura, even if it was one-sided. And now he was told that she had vanished out of nowhere. "Calm down, Naruto. Yelling won't help anything." Kakashi said, but he was worried for his former student - he cared for her as well, only more like a sister or even a daughter. "Something must have happened when we went through the dimension." Sasuke said calmly and Naruto only glared at the Uchiha, how could he be so calm!? This was Sakura they were talking about, dammit! "Bastard! Where do you think she is then?"

"I don't know…"

"You don't know! Or do you even care!"

"Naruto!" Tsunade slammed her fist on the table, breaking it. "We are all worried about Sakura! Dammit!" she glared daggers at the spikey blonde. "But you need to calm down! We need to really think about what is going on here." She angrily said. "So, where do we start?" Naruto was upset and angry - but Tsunade was right, he did need to calm down.

"From the beginning… starting with the other dimensions."

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Sakura slowly opened her eyes when she felt the sun beating down on her face. She felt dizzy and tired. She then noticed that she was in someone's room… Shadow's room and in his bed. She glanced around, looking for the humanoid hedgehog - but he wasn't in the room. So, she slowly got up from the bed and started to look around. She finally found him in the living room, on the couch, asleep. She walked over to him and knelled down next to him. As she watched him sleep, she noticed that he didn't and with the scowl on his muzzle, he looked sad; but what about?

"Maria…" she blinked when she heard his voice. Who was Maria? Whoever that person was - he sounded sad when he said that name. She also noticed that he was still asleep. She stood up then. She then looked at her bandage arm - he had done a good job, bandaging her arm… it wasn't too tight or too loose. She wondered who this Hedgehog was and why did he help her? But she knew that if she found him hurt, she would help him… that was the medic-nin inside of her. She sighed, maybe she should look around the area… with that thought in mind, she walked away from Shadow and went towards the front door, she paused when she placed her hand on the handle of the doorknob. She looked back at the hedgehog, she thought of the sad look on his muzzle, and it hurt her heart when she thought of that look on his muzzle. She sighed again. 'I shouldn't worry so much, I'm sure he will be fine.'

With that, she turned the knob and open the door, and went out and closed the door behind her.

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Shadow blinked his crimson-colored eyes as he slowly sat up. He had been dreaming about Maria again and her death…. He hated humans, or so he said - but then the image of a smiling pink-haired girl with emerald-green eyes popped into his head. That was right- he had helped a human… not was that the first time he had done so. When he saved the world from disaster. When he saw the Sakura girl on the ground, unconscious- his thoughts went to Maria, he couldn't stand to see another girl get hurt and even worse, die. Granted he didn't know this human and he didn't owe her anything, but still, for some reason he was reminded of Maria when he looked at her. Of course, she didn't look like Maria in appearance… when she had woken up and smiled at him… that smile was so much like Maria's. He shook his head. 'I need to stop thinking like this…'

He stood up from the couch he had been sleeping in and walked towards his room… and she wasn't in his room! Panic had formed inside of him, and he rushed through the house, she wasn't anywhere to be seen! Dammit! He had told her to stay in bed! To rest, she was hurt! Did she walk off and not listen to him? Or had something happened? He wasn't sure, but he was going to find out!

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Amy Rose sighed; Sonic had run away from her again! What was a hedgehog girl to do when her hero kept running away from her? Why go shopping of course! She sighed happily, nothing like a good day to shop to cheer a girl up. As she had her bags in front of her, she noticed someone, but not just anyone - a human girl with short pink hair and emerald-green eyes… Amy blinked her own green eyes. She had never seen a human with pink hair before, she was pretty though… but as she looked at her, she noticed that she looked a bit beat up. Her outfit had a torn sleeve, but her arm was bandaged up like she had been hurt. Her pants were torn as well… she looked like she had been in a war or something.

"Hey! Are you alright?"

The sixteen-year-old, pink-haired girl blinked and turned around and saw a cute bubblegum pink hedgehog girl, wearing a short red and white sleeveless dress and red knee-high boots that had a white stripe going down the middle, white gloves with gold rings bracelets around her wrists. This hedgehog was adorable looking. But then she registers what she just asked her. "I'm fine."

"You sure? Your clothing is really torn; you look like you've been in a war or something…"

'But I have been in a war…' Sakura thought sadly. But then she smiled. "Nah, I'm good. This wouldn't be Station Square, would it? I'm new in town." Amy raised an eyebrow but then smiled as well. "Yep! The only one. Say… about your clothes…" Amy trailed off suddenly. And Sakura blinked. "What about them?" she questioned. "How about we go shopping and get you some new ones!" Amy said brightly. "Uh, but I don't have any money…"

"That's okay! I'll pay."

"But-"

"No buts! You can't go around looking like that, what if some cute guys saw you?"

"Uh-" 'She's a bit bossy…' Sakura sighed as the hedgehog girl took a hold of her hand and began to drag her to the shops. "I'm Amy Rose, by the way! What's your name?"

"Sakura Haruno."

"Nice to meet you Sakura!" Then she dragged Sakura off to do some shopping…

Oh, boy…

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{Sometime Later…}

Sakura Haruno wasn't much of a clothing-shopping kind of girl…she was a shinobi! But Amy did sure pick out some cute outfits for her… Amy loved the colored red as much as Sakura did (Sakura also liked green) Sakura was now wearing a light green spaghetti strap top and light grey capris and pink slip-on shoes. She held multiple bags with her good arm. Amy smiled. "Wasn't that fun! We should do it again!"

"Sakura!"

Amy blinked. That voice, it couldn't be… Shadow? Sure enough, she saw a crimson and black hedgehog rush towards them. Shadow was alive? "Sakura!" he said again. Wait he knew Sakura? What was going on here?

"Shadow, you're alive!"

The dark hedgehog at that moment noticed the pink-furred hedgehog. "Shit!" Rose wasn't supposed to know that he was alive, let alone any of her friends. She would most likely tell the faker… He suddenly took Sakura in his arms. "Hey! What are you—" but before anyone could say anything else, he sped off out of sight with Sakura Haruno cradled in his arms.

Amy blinked back tears - Shadow the Hedgehog was alive and well… but why had he acted the way he had? And why had he taken Sakura with him?

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Sakura Haruno found herself still in the dark hedgehog's arms as they neared his house. And he looked moody and pissed. He glared at her as they stopped at the small house in the forest…

"Why didn't you stay here? In the house?"

"I was curious." She said simply.

"You're hurt."

"I'm fine, Shadow."

"Hn." He clearly didn't agree with her. She sighed as he walked into the living room and gently sat her down on the couch. He took the bags from her and laid them down on the couch as well. He then noticed that there was something different about her… what was she wearing? He blushed slightly and looked away. She looked cute in the outfit that she was in… wait what? He shook his head, what in the world was he thinking? Sakura smiled at the blushing hedgehog - he was adorable when he blushed and even though they had just met, he seemed to care for her, in his own way, of course. But it was still nice… but why was he blushing, she wondered…

"Thank you for your concern, Shadow - but I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself." He narrowed his crimson-colored eyes at her and then scoffed at her, which made her eye twitch. "Prove it." He stated simply as he crossed his arms over his furred chest. "You'll believe me if I do?" she asked him, and the hedgehog gave a curt nod.

"Alright then."

She then began to unwrap her bandage around her arm, Shadow uncrossed his arms and he glared at her. "What are you doing-" he began but she interrupted him. "Showing you that I can heal myself! I'm a medic-nin after all!" He wondered how she was going to heal herself and what exactly was a medic-nin? She let her hand hover over her wounded arm and her hand began to glow a soft green color. "!?" Shadow watched in awe as her injured arm began to heal until the wound on her arm was nothing but smooth skin. She moved her hand away from her and stopped the softly glowing green from her hand. She turned to Shadow and smiled. "See, good as new!"

Shadow took ahold of her arm and examined it - there was no trace of the wound… not even a scar was there. If it would have left one that is. "It doesn't hurt?" he asked; his eyes glued to her uninjured arm. She shook her head no. "No, it doesn't hurt." She continued to smile at him when he looked up at her. "How?" he asked stunned at what she could do. "I used chakra… I am a Shinobi." She explained. He let go of her slowly and gave her a look. "What is a shinobi? And what is chakra?"

She blinked at him and then let out a sigh, this place wasn't the shinobi nation - nowhere near it in fact, so he likely wouldn't know what a shinobi is… maybe… "Do you know what a ninja is?" she asked him. He crossed his arms over his patch of white fur chest. His mind wandered back to a book that Maria once had - a history book. He nodded. "Yes, I have heard of the name." her smile widened. "Great! Shinobi is just another word that we use for ninja-it's basically the same meaning." He nodded again. "But - I have only heard of the ninjas through a history book, they no longer exist or are very few in number."

Sakura's smile dropped. "There isn't a village where shinobi resided?"

"Not that I'm aware."

"Are you sure it's not hidden?" she stressed. How could you hide a village? Shadow thought with wonder. But Shadow just shook his head no. A deflated sigh came out of her. "I really am not in the Shinobi Nations anymore…" She said sadly. Shadow frowned, he didn't like the look on her face, it was depressing to see her like this. It tore at his heart, and he didn't know why?

"I'm sorry."

She shook her head. "It's not your fault, I would like to know how I came to this… world." Shadow blinked his crimson-colored eyes. "This world?" she nodded. "I live on Earth too, but my Earth is different… we have a nation of Shinobi and please don't take offense but there are no humanoid animals. Not even hedgehogs of your kind can talk and walk as you do. Sure, we have animals that sometimes talk, but they don't look anything like you or Amy."

Shadow was stunned, she had only seen two hedgehogs, himself and Amy - but there was none like his kind, a hedgehog that would walk and talk? He was dumbfounded and speechless. "You haven't told me what Chakra is?" Said Shadow with a frown. "Ah!" she exclaimed. "Chakra is the very life force inside your body. I can use my Chakra to heal my wounds and even fight in battle, I have become the strongest female Shinobi of my time, besides my master - Lady Tsunade of course!" she said with pride.

He raised a non-existent eyebrow at her. But then he looked at his hands. 'The very life force in your body… that is what Chakra is?' then he thought back to what she said. She was the strong female Shinobi of her time? If that was the case who had hurt, her? Anger flared inside of him. Who had touched her to give her those wounds? "Who hurt you." Sakura blinked at Shadow.

"Wha?"

"Who gave you those wounds, to begin with?" Shadow demanded as he walked close to her. She gave him a confused look, what was with the change of attitude? But she shook that thought out of her head and smiled sadly at him. I was in the 4th Great Shinobi War… we lost many, including my parents."* she bowed her head, sadness clearly in her eyes, "That's why I need to find a way back to Konoha! So that I can help rebuild it!"

Shadow's eyes soften as he looked at her. It seems that she has lost as much as he has, yet she stood strong. What was driving her to stay strong? Even though she lost loved ones in a war? What drove him? His promise to Maria?

To protect the humans… that's what she made him promise… he has done that, and he was doing that now, he was keeping his promise to Maria. But Sakura was different - she reminded him of Maria in some way, yet somehow different at the same time. She was rash and didn't listen to him… yet her smile and friendly attitude is like Maria's. And what is funny is that she has pink hair and green eyes like Amy Rose… only Rose is a Hedgehog and Sakura is a Human… and Sakura isn't annoying… but he didn't mind Rose, even if she was a bit annoying - he could handle her.

He looked away from her. "You can stay here as long as you want." He looked at her slightly. "And I'll try to find some information on getting you back home." he said as he crossed his arms over his white fur chest. A slight blush on his tan muzzle. Sakura blinked and then grinned when she saw him blush, she put her around his neck and hugged him. "Thank you, Shadow!" Shadow turned a deeper red as she kissed the side of his muzzle cheek.

'What is she doing!?'

She let go of him and smiled brightly at him and then gave a bow and continued to smile as she straightens up. "Thank you so much, it means so much to me, tell me if you need any help!" She then turned and then looked over her shoulder. "I'm going to lie down. Shopping with Amy is tiresome." She then walked to Shadow's room and went to lie down on his bed.

"Looks like I'm on the couch again tonight." Shadow let out a sigh. He looked at the several bags on the couch and he wonder if that was Rose's doing… most likely. Knowing that hyper thirteen-year-old hedgehog girl… so he grabbed the bags and placed them on the kitchen table. He then sat down on the couch. This time he would make sure she was within his sight and didn't run off.

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{Later}

Sakura yawned and smiled as she sat up in Shadow's bed. It was still daylight. She crawled out of the bed and walked into the living room, and she found Shadow sitting there. Was he asleep? His eyes are closed… as she walked closer to him, he wouldn't budge. "Shadow?" she whispered. But he didn't move. But his ear twitched slightly. She giggled, another twitch. She sat next to him, his arms crossed over his fluffy white chest (that she so wanted to pet.) a scowl on his muzzle. She wonders why he never smiled. Did something happen in the past? A sad look appeared on Sakura's face. "I hope someone can make you smile, Shadow." she said softly as she placed her head on his shoulder. But unknown to her or him, a small smile graced his lips (muzzle).

~ End Chapter One ~

(*) I'm not sure if Sakura's Parent's die in the war or not, but I thought that for Shadow and Sakura to have something in common in the story, losing someone close to them, that was a family member. Yes, I view Shadow and Maria like brother & sister, not in a Romanic way.

ANYWAYS! This took forever to write! But this chapter is finally done :) Yay! Thank you for all the reviews on the Prologue, and yes Shadow is starting to show protectiveness towards Sakura, well slightly anyways. Heh, just wait until Sonic and co show up suddenly. Hint, hint. Until the next chapter.

Marik's Girl