"Ok. Just look for one that jumps out at you." Hana told Sakura as they entered Konoha's animal adoption/rescue center.
'But they're all jumping out at me.'
Sakura thought to herself, as she looked at all the dogs barking at her from behind their cages. She didn't see any dogs that she would want to train with.
She saw adorable little puppies that looked useless in battle, and big hairy dogs that kinda scared her. She didn't see anything that she would even consider training with and taking care of.
That's when she saw it.
The one animal that stood out to her.
It was there, in the very back of the adoption center in the biggest cage, it was the most beautiful tiger that Sakura had ever seen. (Not that Sakura had ever seen a tiger before but still!)
The tiger's fur was a pure white, like snow, with beautiful ink black stripes. It was sleeping until Sakura walked to its cage, then its eyes snapped open to reveal two bright, shining sapphires.
"She's beautiful." Sakura said in awe. "Wait, it is a girl right?"
"Yes, it is a girl." Said the girl at the desk of the adoption center.
"What's her name?" Sakura asked still staring at the tiger.
"Her name is Tokio." The lady told her.
"Tokio huh?" Sakura said repeating the name to herself.
"Wait, wait, wait Sakura. You're not seriously considering the tiger as your animal are you?" Hana asked as if Sakura had gone crazy.
Sakura hummed innocently as if she hadn't heard Hana as she jumped over the fence into Tokio's cage.
"What? Sakura! Get out of there!" Hana shouted at her.
"Actually that tiger probably isn't that dangerous. The ANBU were on a mission chasing a fugitive but the damn bastard pulled a substation jutsu on them. He replaced himself with this really young tiger. The ANBU didn't know what to do with it so they brought it here." The lady at the desk told them.
Hana turned to look at the lady and then back at Sakura. "Fine! But if you get mauled by that tiger in that cage and have your eyes scratched out don't come crying to me!"
Hana told her that as Sakura tuned her out still whistling as she petted Tokio who snuggled up and purred to Sakura's touch.
Tokio was purring and Sakura said, "Aww!"
Then Sakura looked over at Hana (while still petting Tokio) with an adorable look on her face that said, "She's so cute! How can you resist her? Can we keep her please?!"
Hana had to give in.
She sighed with a softened smile on her face.
"So can Sakura adopt Tokio?" She asked the lady at the desk.
"Sure." The lady said simply. "This is an adoption center. Just fill out a form and she's yours."
"Ok." Hana said.
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"Yay!" Sakura yelled as she ran through the field with Tokio who was very fast and cheerful like the little kid she was.
"Hey Sakura!" Hana called out to her. "Get back here! It's time for your training!"
Sakura and Tokio skipped back and landed right in front of Hana and her two dogs.
"Training?"
"Yes!" Hana said feeling as if she was pointing out the obvious.
"You're my apprentice now, so I will be training you. I have a lot to teach you, so it may take a few years. So lets get started." Hana told her.
Sakura blinked and then got a determined look on her face.
"Ok."
A/N: Wow I finally updated! After what, 8 months or so? My god! I'm so sorry that I didn't update sooner! You guys probably thought I discontinued this! Well now you know that I didn't and I don't plan to! I will update again!
Sorry this is shorter than the first chapter but this is where I needed to end it there to make the next chapter work!
So I chose a white tiger as Sakura's animal, for two reasons: 1.) It's my favorite animal. 2.) I didn't want to make Sakura too similar to the Inuzuka family so I gave her an animal that was different but still a little similar to Hana and Kiba.
So I think Tokio is perfect for Sakura! I made up the name Tokio (at least I think I did if it actually existed before I randomly thought it up then I didn't)
Please Review!
