(A/N: I am so so so so so sorry! Please don't hurt me *hides* I've been busy with my school and helping my clubs and all and I haven't had time to even touch a computer! It's been so frustrating, plus my brother went to college, and it's been horrible at home with out him, and my cousin's having a wedding!! Helping them plan is really hard, and with my other cousin and her new baby, GAH! It's been really hard, I hope you guys can forgive me!!! Please forgive me -_-………..)

Chapter Two

A New Friend or Two

"Arashi…."

It was just a whisper, but it was heard.

Tsume and Hana looked at Sakura, in a little bit of surprise, and curiosity mixed in there.

"Sakura? Do you know this animal?" Tsume asked, looking at said women. Sakura nodded in reply, still staring at the black wolf that was her friend and family.

The black wolf, now better known as Arashi, stared at Sakura in return, unbelievingly, and then whimpered, staring at Sakura, and backing into the corner of the cage.

Sakura finally seemed to snap out of it, and glared at Arashi, which made Tsume and Hana glance at one another, and as Sakura moved toward the cage, Arashi moved as far back as possible as he could even go, and then shocked Tsume and Hana, as he started……. talking?!?!

"Sakura please, let me explain" Arashi started, laughing nervously.

"Let you explain? Let you explain? You must be out of your mind! You abandoned me back there! And now your just here, asking to let me let you explain!! How could you…." Sakura had started at a run, and then whispered the very last part. Arashi was looking down, mostly ashamed, and whimpering as well. He would not meet Sakura's eyes, even as she stared at him.

Sighing, Tsume decided to break the silence, "Well Sakura, this is him, I guess you can handle him…. Take care!" Tsume let Arashi out, and waltzed off with Hana, leaving the two alone, together.

Only, Arashi didn't move from his spot, and Sakura didn't stop staring.

"Sakura…?"

"Arashi…?"

They both stopped again, still looking at each other. Then snapping out of their reverie of seeing each other again, Arashi finally decided to say something.

"Sakura, can we get out of here?"

Slowly, she nodded, and then laughed at his choice of words. "Come on Arashi, but you still have a lot of explaining to do," she glanced at the black, messy wolf, who hung his head, and gave a small laugh, "hey there," she kneeled to his level, patting his dirt caked fur, "take it easy, I forgive you, but I just want to know."

She offered a soft smile at him, and he nodded, giving his own wolfish grin.

The two walked off together, then Sakura stopped and turned looking at him, this time studying him…

"You need a bath."

0A

Arashi blinked.

"EH!?"

Sakura grinned, "You. Need. A. Bath."

Arashi shot off running, Sakura running behind him, scooped him up in her arms, and took him to her apartment, and the whole way there…

Arashi whimpered.

Sakura laughed.

Walking back to the training fields, Sakura and her new found companion was silent, deep in thought.

"Sakura!!! Your back!"

Said female's head shot up, then sighed, and Arashi tensed beside her, growling as the blond headed male ran up to her.

"Easy Arashi, it's just Naruto," Sakura told him quietly, but Arashi didn't calm down, staying tense, and growling softly.

"Who's your friend?" Naruto asked, stopping a few feet away from Sakura and the growling creature.

Sakura bent down scratching his head, "His name is Arashi. He's an old friend of mine from when I traveled alone." She trailed off and didn't elaborate.

Kakashi studied the black wolf silently, then turned to Sakura, "Can you fight well with him?" he asked, getting a small idea.

Sakura seemed to be less tense about things with the young wolf around, and he wanted her to stay that way so maybe it would make him less uptight… hopefully. There was something about the two he couldn't describe, and he knew it would change Sakura forever, plus with the things he heard from the Hokage about the Akatsuki… Well let's just say he hoped they would stay together at one another's side and protect each other.

Sakura snapped out of her reverie, looking at Kakashi, then to Arashi then back at Kakashi.

"Of course we can fight together, we've been together for so long right Arashi?" Sakura looked down at him and smiled lightly.

"Hai."

It was obvious that Arashi didn't like the others that much, not around Sakura at least, and as he met Sakura's gaze, she saw the burning message in his eyes, 'we'll talk later'

and she half shivered at the thought, the meaning in his words.

He did not approve of her being with humans.

And if he didn't approve, then the Okami didn't approve either.

Sakura sighed.

"Sakura, will you show us how well you can fight with him? Just to see a demonstration"

Sakura nodded, and smirked, looked down at Arashi, who was grinning as well.

"Who will we fight Sai? Naruto?"

"Sai, he is a bit more controlled and has his own special ability."

Naruto immediately burst into complaints, which was completely ignored as Sakura got into her fighting stance, crouching low. Arashi crouched beside her, tense, baring his fangs, ears pricked, nose twitching, and claws out. The two alone looked incredibly hard to beat, who knew how the two fought together if they looked hard to beat just standing there.

A smirk graced Sakura's lips, "Ready Sai?" She questioned the male in front of her, and he slipped into his own stance, pulling his favored scroll from his pocket…

"Of course"

And the two began.