Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN NARUTO!

Chapter Eight: Community Spirit Pt 1

Characters Introduced: Akasuna Sasori, Hoshigaki Kisame, Uchiha Itachi

Rated T for now

Naru/Hina

Sasu/Karin

Saku/?

Sakura groaned as her phone woke her up at the ungodly hour of two am. "Haruno." She grunted. "Dr. Haruno! Thank goodness we got a hold of you! We need you like yesterday! The trauma center is overflowing with patients! I hate to disturb you on your vacation but we need you badly!" A nurse cried. "Calm down. I'm on my way." Sakura assured her. "Thank you. I'm so sorry." The nurse replied. "It's ok. That's why we're in this profession. To save lives. Death waits for no one." Sakura said. She hung up, showered, got dressed and headed out the door, heading for her car. Sakura scribbled a fast note and drove over so it could be taped to Temari's front door.

Sakura's lab coat flared out behind her as she stepped through the doors of Konoha General's Trauma Unit and the nursing staff cheered. "Let's get to work guys and gals. We don't celebrate until everyone's in safe territory." She said briskly. "Yes ma'am!" The nurses cried. Everyone scrambled around stabilizing patients, admitting some to the hospital proper, releasing others and even sending one or two to the morgue. Not a single patient that passed through the doors of Sakura's unit was turned away.

Sakura was exhausted by the time she finished her emergency shift at the hospital. The pink haired doctor headed down to the café to get a much needed cup of tea. She felt she deserved it.

"Hey Sakura! Wow you look like hell!" Temari greeted brightly. Sakura laughed as she sank into her favorite booth and accepted a steaming cup of tea from the blonde. "Did you feed my cat?" She asked. "Yeah. I did." Temari replied. "Thank you." Sakura sighed. The pinkette blinked when a steaming plate of food was placed in front of her as well. "Don't worry about paying with money. You can pay for it by attending our full-moon ritual tonight." Gaara said as he handed one to Temari and Kankuro who joined them and set the last one before himself. "Ok." Sakura replied.

"What time is the ritual?" Sakura asked as she toweled her hair dry. "Sunset I think. Gaara usually waits until it's dark before beginning it though. He's been preparing since the waxing moon began so he can heal one of our other friends. Tonight is the night he's going to do it. The full moon gives us the most power so yeah." Temari replied as she lounged on the bed petting Sakura's cat. Shinobi purred like mad and Sakura smiled. If Shinobi liked Temari then she was a good person. For some reason Shinobi seemed to know who was trustworthy and who wasn't. Perhaps if she had listened to him when he hissed or growled when Sasuke and Karin were in the same room then she wouldn't be so heartbroken right now.

Sakura followed Temari as the blonde led her and Shinobi both out back of the house. "This is why we live here. No one bothers us when we work our spells and rituals. The neighbors here are all Witches." She explained. "Ah." Sakura replied. Shinobi was in heaven. None of the people here were rude to him. He was treated as a sacred creature and everyone had a kind touch or a scrap of food for him. Dinner was served for the humans as well. There were all kinds of animals on Temari's property. Dogs, cats, even a few bats and owls but none of them were aggressive toward each other. Shinobi trotted up to a huge black dog and meowed loudly.

"Alright everyone. Thank you for coming to lend me your energy tonight. As you all know Itachi has been sick for years. We've gathered tonight to heal him of his ailment. But before we do that, I'd like to introduce our newest neighbor and Witch Haruno Sakura. She's a Siren and an Earth Witch. Please make some time tonight before we part to say hello to her and introduce yourselves. I'm sure Sakura could use more friends that she doesn't have to hide what she is from." Gaara announced. "Before we do our ritual, let's finish dinner. We need the food to convert to energy so we don't tire ourselves out. Eat up guys! There's still plenty to go around!" Temari announced. Sakura smiled as she watched Shinobi bound off to play with a few other cats he met. "Looks like your cat's making friends quickly." A smooth voice said to her left. Sakura turned her head and smiled again. "He is. Shinobi is a good judge of character but I don't always listen to him when he warns me about people." She replied. "My name is Akasuna Sasori. I'm Temari, Gaara, and Kankuro's cousin." The red head said. "I'm the neighbor. Sakura. Nice to meet you." Sakura replied. Sasori kissed the back of her hand and Sakura blushed lightly. "Charmer." She said. "My boyfriend agrees with you." Sasori laughed. Sakura laughed as well and yelped when she was pulled away from him by another taller man. "Don't hog the pretty girls Sasori or Dei will curse you again!" He said jokingly.

"That would scare me if I didn't know you were bluffing Kisame." Sasori retorted. "Dei cursed Sasori?" Sakura asked. "Yeah. Once. When they first started dating. Sasori was being nice like he was toward you and Dei took it wrong. He cursed Sasori to speak pig Latin for a month when he spoke to pretty girls." Kisame laughed. Sakura giggled and waved at Itachi. "I didn't know you were one of us." She said. "There are many things you don't know about me Sakura. I take it you finally witnessed Sasuke's misdeeds?" Itachi replied. Sakura nodded with a frown. "Yeah. But I don't blame your family. Just his inability to keep it in his pants." She replied. Itachi smiled. "He's a bigger fool than I took him for previously." He said. Sakura smiled as well. "Yeah well...Sasuke has always been foolish." She replied. "Indeed." Itachi agreed.

Gotta love Witches. They are a community-oriented bunch. ^_^