Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Chapter Seven
Tsunade wasn't having the best of mornings. She had gotten drunk the night before, woke with up a horrible hang-over, and on top of it all, had a three-foot stack of paperwork to get done with today.
"I don't even know why I decided to take this job," Tsunade said outloud, not caring who heard her. Just as she started to get to work on the paperwork, there was a knock on the door.
"Who is it?" Tsunade asked with a grumpy voice.
"It is me Shizune. Sakura's mother is here to see you. She says it's urgent and cannot wait," Shizune said as she talked through the door, trying to avoid Tsunade's grumpiness.
"Fine, send her in," Tsunade said. Seconds later Sakura's mother came in with tears in her eyes.
"Hokage-Sama, send out a search team. My daughter Sakura is gone. I found a note in her room this morning saying she ran away with Naruto," Sakura's mother said in a worried voice.
"What do you mean she ran away with Naruto?" Tsunade asked in a curious voice.
"I mean she and Naruto, that filthy demon, took Sakura and forced her to write a note against her will!" Sakura's mother said angrily.
"Let me see that note," Tsunade said, outstretching her hand grasping the note. Reading the note over, she handed it back to the mother. "We will get right on it. Don't worry," Tsunade said reassuringly.
"Thank You Hokage-Sama. Please find my Sakura," Sakura's mother said as she left with a worried look on her face.
"Shizune, get me Uchicha Sasuke and Hatake Kakashi please. It seems we need to find a missing shinobi," Tsunade ordered.
"Right away Tsunade-Sama!" Shizune said as she left to have Sasuke Uchiha and Kakashi Hatake brought to the Hokage tower.
'Today is going to be a long day.' Tsunade thought as she reached under her desk to retireve her secret sake supply and a lotto ticket.
Meanwhile back in the Sound village...
After walking away from Orochimaru, Naruto and Sakura had went back to his room. Sakura had devoured the apple since she was so hungry. Although one apple really dosen't fill an empty stomach, so minutes later, Sakura was hungry again. She started to scavenge around Naruto's room, looking for something else to eat.
Naruto looked at her curiously. "What are you doing Sakura-chan?" he asked.
"Looking for something to eat," Sakura answered, opening the frigde. To her dismay, some limbs fell out & Sakura had to hold back a gag as she quickly closed the door.
Naruto chuckled sheepishly. "Eeh... sorry about that Sakura-chan..." he told her.
After shutting the fridge door, Sakura sent a glare at Naruto. Naruto growled, not liking it. His old self would have put up with it, but not Kyuubi. Sakura gasped quietly, almost stepping back. Naruto noticced that and quickly stopped. "I'm sorry Sakura-chan. I didn't mean to growl at you. I promise we'll eat out tonight, but its dangerous for you to be seen, so you've got to be quiet, alright?" Sakura nodded her head as Naruto smiled at her. "I wouldn't want anything to happen to you Sakura-chan." Naruto grabbed her hand, leading her out of his room and down the hall again.
While walking with Naruto, Sakura couldn't help but wonder how Naruto acquired his tails and ears. "Hey Naruto-kun, how did you get those tails and ears anyway?" Sakura asked.
"When Kyuubi and I merged out souls together, he told me I might develop some of his animal traits. At first I thought he meant eating, sleeping, or mating habits." Pausing to take a breath, Naruto began talking again. "It wasn't even three months later that I noticed my ears had turned into fox ears and that I had a tail too," he explained.
Sakura, feeling she got more questions than answers, decided to drop the subject for now and instead, held on tighter to Naruto's hand. But still, Naruto held Sakura a little closer than he normally would, seeing as a Sound ninja could pop out at any second, and he needed to be ready to protect Sakura at a moment's notice.
Meanwhile In Konoha
Sasuke Uchiha had not been doing so well this day. He remembered that three years ago today was the day he fought Naruto. His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a knock at his door. Getting up he walked over to the door and opened it to see his old sensei Kakashi standing there. "Hey Kakashi what brings you around here?" Sasuke asked.
"Hokage-Sama want us to see her in her office right now. Seems there is supposed to be a mission she wants us to team up on," Kakashi answered.
Grabbing his sandals, Sasuke slipped them on and he and Kakashi set off for the Hokage Tower. After arriving at the tower, Sasuke and Kakashi were briefed on the note Sakura's mother found and were told they were going to try and bring Sakura back and possibly even Naruto. After leaving the tower, Sasuke and Kakashi had talked a little bit about the mission before splitting up to pack for the mission. When Kakashi had heard Naruto left the village, he felt he was partly responsible for it. Naruto had begged for him to teach him, yet he would cast him aside to teach Sasuke instead.
"I was such a fool. Teaching Sasuke and not Naruto. When Sasuke and I bring Naruto back I am going to correct that mistake," Kakashi said with determination.
Back In The Sound Village
Arriving at the restaurant, Naruto and Sakura walked in through the entrance way. Sakura's breath was taken away when she seen the interior of the building. The floor was made of white marble, the walls were painted black with gold trimming on the sides, and the ceiling was made of glass so people could enjoy the view of the night sky if they wanted to. Walking further inside the restaurant, Sakura spotted a man behind a table. Naruto had walked right past him and kept on walking, but when Sakura tried to get through, she was stopped by the man.
"Do you have a reservation?" The man asked in an accent Sakura never heard before. Naruto wondering where Sakura went to turned around and saw Sakura being questioned by the man. Naruto growled, walking back up to the man and tapping him on the shoulder. The man turned and suddered slightly when he saw how angry Naruto was. He realised by the look in his eyes that Sakura was with him and quickly showed them to Naruto's personal table. It was always reserved for him everyday. It was at the back of the restaurant, just like he wanted it to be.
After Sakura and Naruto were seated at their table the waiter handed their menus to the couple. "I will have the steak, medium grilled with a large side order of fries and onion rigns. But leave the blood on it though," Naruto ordered the man. Sakura, pretending not to hear the blood part, kept looking through her menu. She couldn't believe the different types of food they had on here. Most of them she never heard of before. "Sakura, I would ordered the spaghetti. Get parmesan cheese on it as well. It's better that way," Naruto suggested. Sakura, taking Naruto's advice, ordered the spaghetti.
As the waiter started to leave Naruto tugged him on the shoulder. "Also please bring us your finest bottle of sake," he ordered the man. The waiter left, telling the cook their orders and returned with some appetizers for Naruto and Sakura to munch on while they waited for their food.
Growing bored of the silence, Sakura had decided to make some small talk with Naruto. "Why did you decide to to come to Sound anyway?" Sakura asked.
"I got sick of Konoha. People always looking down on me, Kakashi never teaching me, Sasuke always acting so high and mighty all the time. I got sick of it all," Naruto answered truthfully.
"What about your friends though? Chouji, Shikamaru, Kiba, Hinata, Neji, Lee. What about them?" Sakura asked.
"I admit I felt sad to leave them behind but after awhile their bonds of friendship faded, along with my compassion for them. Although I guess Chouji felt a little bit of the pain I did," Naruto answered.
"Hinata had a crush on you. Did you know that?" Sakura stated.
"I figured it out over time. I never cared about it though. If she wanted to care about someone who would never see her as a romantic interest, then that's fine with me," Naruto said, sounding cold and emotionless as though he didn't care. Which he probably didn't.
Deciding to drop the subject, Sakura just stayed quiet till their food arrived, which it did a couple of minutes later. Sakura's eyes nearly bulged out, seeing the enourmous steak that was set in front of Naruto. That was nothing compared to her plate of spaghetti though. Not knowing if she could eat that much food, she decided to see if they would let her take the rest home.
After taking a bite of his steak, Naruto realized it was still cold in some areas. "Execuse me Sakura. I'll be right back," Naruto said with a fake smile on his lips. Marching into the kitchen, Naruto growled, getting his attention. He spoke quietly but harshly, telling off the cook. When he stared to defend himself, however, Naruto had gotten fed up and quickly "ended" the discussion.
Naruto, feeling proud of his work, left to go and finish his dinner. Sitting back down, Sakura smiled at him. "What took you so long? I missed you," Sakura said.
"It was nothing, just had a disagreement with someone thats all," Naruto answered, then started to eat his steak.
After finishing their dinners, Sakura and Naruto headed back to Naruto's room where they had watched some T.V. before finally going to sleep.
Later That Night
Naruto awoke suddenly to a jolt of pain coming from his lower back. Looking down, he saw Sakura had a hold of one of his tails. Growling, he stood up, yanking his tail out of her grasp while slapping her with it, waking her up. Yelling at her, he said, "Don't you ever pull on my tails again! Why would you do that? Huh?! What kind of person pulls on an animal's tail?!"
Sakura, who just sat there confused, feeling her cheek sting from his tail, just started crying, not knowing what else to do. Naruto felt his heart clench at the scene, immediately feeling like a jackass. He hugged her, holding her softly against him. "I'm so sorry Sakura. I didn't mean to yell at you. It's just that when my tails get pulled on, they really hurt and I just get really angry, no matter who did it. Please forgive me," Naruto said, worried of what Sakura would say.
Not saying anything, Sakura turned her back to him with tears still on her face. Naruto sighed, not liking being ignored but knowing he deserved this, turned his back to her. All of a sudden, he felt a hand start to scratch his ears. A deep, dark purr emitted from his throat. He heard Sakura gasp and he knew why. Even though he was purring, it was more demonic than it should be.
Turning over on his side to face Sakura, Naruto just stared at her, seeing that she was no longer crying. Sakura kissed Naruto softly, shocking him at first. "Its okay Naruto-kun. I forgive you. I know you didn't mean it," Sakura said softly before wishing him a good night and going back to sleep. Naruto was soon after her, but not before noticing the redness on her cheek was gone.
Author's Note: Hope everyone liked the chapter. That Special Person will be the story that is updated next.