There was nothing that they did not buy for that cat, which was indeed a "she". His little friend was the runt of her litter, and so was cast out by her larger siblings. She had dashed in the window of Naruto's room and hid in the closet to find a warm place to hide. When she was discovered, she was very underweight, but had the appetite of a demon, so the vet figured she'd be fine after a few hearty meals.
Now. Naruto was carrying a few, rather heavy, bags of cat food and other treats as they walked along the square. The kitten was walking with Sasuke, keep close to him. They were heading over to a stand on the far end of the square, and Sasuke was talking to his Kitten like she was going to answer back, trying to think of a good name for her. She would answer to "Hey, come here!" if she wandered off toward something that smelled good, but he could not find anything that seemed to fit her.
At the stand, the man laughed and looked over the pair of men with their kitten running circles around them. "Well, now, wha-" before he could finish his sentence, he was startled by the kitten jumping up on to his counter and attacking the vase of tiger lilies that were up there. She knocked the vase to the ground and it shattered there, spilling water and all the flowers, save for one, which she kept in her mouth and proceeded to chew on as she laid in the counter.
Sasuke was a flustered mess. He apologized and scooped up the kitten, who was still eagerly knawing on the leaves and stem of her prize. Naruto was laughing quietly. "Guess we found her name, eh, Sasuke? She looks like a Ran to me!" Sasuke turned and gave him a death glare before turning back to the stand owner, who was laughing as well.
"I have been trying to get someone to knock that thing over for months! My daughter thought it would look nice, but it's just in the way! Dinners on me tonight, boys," The man leaned on the counter with how hard he was laughing. Apparently, he really wanted that ugly, bright colored vase gone. Sasuke didn't know what to say, so he just sat down and let Ran crawl on to the counter and chew on her flower.
''''''''''''
Dinner was pleasant, and full of laughter, as Ran attacked moths that flew toward the hanging lanterns, and dashed here and there. Sasuke had not ever laughed so much in his life, he thought, and so it was amazing to do so. When they had finished eating, Naruto started to pull out his wallet and was stopped by the Stand Owner, " Nope, it was on the house, like I said, go enjoy the rest of your night, guys."
Ran looked up at the man and mewled her thanks, since he had cooked up a little fish for her to eat as well. Naruto looked down at the kitten and smiled. She hopped up and settled on Sasuke's shoulder. The trio headed back to the apartment, where the door was forced in and off its top hinge. Ran hissed and dove toward the door before Naruto could react and was out of sight. Sasuke looked after her and tried to move a little faster on his crutch, which tripped him and left him gripping the wall to stay up. "Ran!" he called and then heard a high yowl. There was a crash and a scream. The scream was human. Naruto dropped the bags and raced in the door. He had a kunai out in only seconds and had it trained on the offending party in his home. He growled and red flashed over his blue eyes, it seemed the demon fox did not like the idea of pink haired she-devils in their home, either.
Sakura glowered at Naruto. She hissed, much like the cat had a moment ago. The only smell in the room was a thick scent of alcohol, and it couldn't have all been her. Sasuke came into the house and called for Ran again. She came bounding back to him and pawed at his bad foot, as if to ask if he was okay. He smiled down at her and then jerked his head up in terror as he heard Her speak from the bed room, "I will have him back! He's mine! He has been for so long! He can't do anything on his own, he needs me!" her voice was rough and drenched in malice. Sasuke felt his pants warm with urine and he sank to the floor. She was going to get him. She was going to take him back and touch him again, hurt him, making him remember his place.
There was no escaping Her, never. She was not going to stop, and there was nothing in the world that could stop Her. Sasuke began to cry, and Ran jumped into his lap, licking and nipping at his hand, trying to calm him. Sasuke sat there, crying and waiting for her to grab him and drag him back to hell.
Naruto reached out and grabbed her. He dropped the kunai in his hand and made that hand into a sign to teleport them out of the room, now they were on the roof of the building, and she was under him. His eyes flashed red and the nails on the hand that had grabbed her elongated into claws that ripped into the flesh of her wrist easily and made her scream and pushed back against him with the strength of a ninja.
Naruto went with her push and used it to leap into the air, flipping and landing a few yards away. "So we just duke it out until you die, human?" came Naruto's voice, though there was a rich undertone that marked it as other-worldly. Sakura looked at the man in front of her with disgust and growled. She lifted her hands and moved then in a way that Naruto had never see before. The air around them became thick, then dry as it condensed into water orbs, and then froze into sharp shards that she began to throw at him. He dodged and the Fox Demon inside of him pushed his hands into shapes that he himself did not know. He allowed her to fight with him, to defend the creature that had saved him from her and himself many times.
Summoning a fire to counter the ice, steam rose around them. There was nowhere in the city that it couldn't be seen from, so Naruto expected reinforcements to arrive soon. Sakura fought him with her jutsu, and threw herself at him with a knife. They engaged in combat for a few minutes, and then Sakura threw herself off the edge of the building. Naruto had not even noticed that they were on the edge. He leapt after her and watched her dive in a window. In a blind rage, he moved his hands into signs to call up the fire the Fox Demon had summoned earlier and threw it into the window. He heard a shreik and then a roar as the fire caught on something else and ignited. The smell of alcohol filled his nose and Naruto screamed a foul word. He jumped in the window and over Sakura, who seemed unconscious, and raced for the man who was still sitting in his stupor, crying and waiting for hell.
Scooping the thin man up in his arms, Naruto hugged him and the cat close against his chest. The fire was spreading like wild over the soaked insides of the apartment. It was chewing on all of the things that Naruto had worked so hard for. But what he held in his arms was so much more important than all of that. He raced down the hall, screaming that there was a fire and for the other dwellers of the building to get out. As he made it to the ground floor, he looked around to see ninja and civilians racing to put out the raging flames. Once he was outside and safe, Naruto looked down at the Raven and smiled sadly. The man had been knocked out of his trance by all the commotion and was looking up at Naruto, looking miserable.
Naruto settled him on a bench not too far from the door of another building on the street and ran a hand through his hair. "She didn't get you," the blond fox muttered, his eyes fading from violet to ocean blue.