Sakura spotted the problem almost immediately.

Kieri, her new feline companion, did not like her. At all.

It was the small hints that tipped her off. The cat poop in her bed. The suspicious smell of ammonia in her shoes. The shredded wardrobe. The complete unwillingness to follow any order whatsoever. Kieri would deliberately and even gleefully disobey Sakura in the most spectacular manner it could, no matter how politely Sakura gave the order.

It would wait for her to eat, then jump on her plate. When she shooed it away, it would turn to go, then stop, look her in the eye, and tip over her water glass. At one point, it clawed at her leg as she walked by its cage, casually shredding the edge of the one dress she had that was not wet and smelling, again, suspiciously of ammonia, an old one from the back of the closet that was far too tight in the shoulders to be comfortable.

Ultimately, she had to leave the cat in its cage when not working with it to keep it out of trouble. Tsume had provided her with the cage, a fairly large one with plenty of space, and had given her a manual on crate training. Apparently, Sakura thought to herself on a regular basis, dogs would willingly stay in their cage, instead of fighting tooth and nail to stay out of it.

Tsume had given Sakura a book titles 'Behavioral Reinforcement in Dogs.' Sakura had read it diligently, reading about the differences between positive and negative reinforcement, as well as positive and negative punishment. She then tried to apply it to Kieri's training, which proved to be a fruitless endeavor.

At first, Sakura tried to please the cat, using positive reinforcement in the form of cat treats to get her to follow orders. Kieri did not react in the least to the treats… but the next morning the bag was found empty on the floor next to a very satisfied Kieri.

Sakura tried positive punishment next with a little spray bottle, squirting the cat whenever it tried to mess with Sakura's food. That lasted less than ten minutes before Kieri mauled the bottle, and Sakura's hand, whenever she reached for it.

Sakura then tried placing the cat in her cage whenever it acted up. This sad attempt at negative punishment failed just as poorly as the other training efforts, because Kieri would sit in her cage and yowl so dreadfully that not a single person in the house could sleep. Sakura tried to tough it out, and her parents were supportive until the neighbors stopped by at two in the morning and starting yowling back.

Sakura was giving serious consideration in using negative reinforcement next, the application of a negative effect until the subject did the right thing to end it. Unfortunately, Tsume happened to catch Sakura trying to buy the shock collar. She had flat out told the girl that there was nothing short of animal cruelty that could work in that manner, and the look in her eye as she said it clearly indicated that Sakura was not going to be doing that.

Tsume was at a loss, although many years later she wanted to kick herself for not realizing the problem sooner. She had spent most of her life with dogs, training dogs, learning the ways of dogs, and in the end, her previous experience got in the way. She suggested many things, from treats to punishments, cheerful friendly mannerisms to snarly and commanding voices, and all were met with stony glares or mauling by the cat under Sakura's care.

After a week, Sakura was ready to be done. She had spent the entire time trying to get the cat to simply react to her commands with anything but violence and disdain. She had given orders in every tone from sweet and light to shouted demands, and nothing worked. Finally tired of her efforts after her latest attempt, she sighed and sat down next to her disobedient cat. "I suppose you're proud of yourself," she said. Kieri blinked once, but did not look away.

Sakura sighed again and picked up the cat, even as it scratched at her, and set it in her lap, gently stroking it with one hand while keeping it in place with another. "Well, I suppose you'll just have to be a pretty little pet instead of a battle companion," she said as she scratched Kieri behind the ears. The cat purred slightly, causing Sakura to stop. She'd never heard her cat do that, no matter how she tried to flatter or pet it. After a moment, Kieri nudged her hand, and she started petting again. Sakura sighed, but she smiled all the same at her difficult little cat. "I wish I knew what I was doing wrong," she murmured as the cat started to purr again.

Kieri stopped purring, and Sakura looked down to see it staring at her, waiting patiently. Of course, Sakura thought with an internal sigh. Of course it's intelligent enough to understand my language. She slid the cat off her lap and knelt down to look it in the eye, then asked, "What am I doing wrong? Can you show me?"

Kieri blinked, then trotted away. Sakura waited a moment, then sighed when she heard the food bowl turn over again. The cat was always turning the food bowl over, scattering the carefully balanced and nutritious food Tsume had prepared for it to maximize its growth. Sakura walked into the other room to clean up the mess before her parents commented on it, then stopped to stare at her cat.

Kieri was sitting on the bowl, staring right back at her, and in that moment, Sakura was both enthused and deeply embarrassed. "You don't like the food," she said, not a question, a statement, and she heard Kieri's purr from across the room.

"All right. Let's find some food."

In the end, Sakura could only think of one way to find what Kieri might like. She brought the cat to a nearby grocery store, carrying it tightly to keep it from running off.

The owner of the nearest shop that might be useful was a middle-aged man with a large bald spot and a cheery grin named Dan. She had visited the store a couple times in the past, and knew the man was a bit of a bookworm, and friendly enough, but beyond that, he was just another person hovering at the edge of her life. His shop was well stocked in meats, however, and she knew from her studies with Tsume that cats were obligate carnivores, requiring meat to survive, so it seemed like a good place to start.

He was very tolerant when Sakura started requesting a small sample of every sort of meat she could find, and became enthusiastic when she paid him a more than reasonable fee for the samples.

Kieri, for her part, was so well behaved that Sakura had trouble remembering this same cat had ruined her cloths, bed, and house. It had hopped lightly onto a small table and patiently watched the grocer as he worked with an air of serious effort Sakura had never seen before. It even purred at him when he brought each set of samples out.

It took a little while for Sakura to figure out what Kieri liked, but a short list eventually was written down on a slip of paper just as the shopkeeper was getting ready to close for the day. "So, what do you want today?" Sakura asked Kieri, half expecting a dull stare. Instead, Kieri walked over to the case and reached up to tap the glass over the chicken and meowed.

The grocer chuckled when he saw that and started wrapping some up before Sakura could say anything. After he handed over the meat, he reached down to scratch the cat behind the ears. "That's a smart cat you have there, Miss," he said as it purred at him. "I wonder if she'd like to pick her own food out in the future."

Sakura said nothing, gazing thoughtfully at her cat.

After preparing for bed, Sakura picked up Kieri, but this time, she watched closely. Kieri's ears immediately went back, a sure sign of displeasure, and it turned slightly to face her cage. Sakura nodded to herself, and brought the cat over to her bed instead. She set it down next to her, and they looked at each other.

"I'm sorry," she said, reaching out to pat it on the head. The cat purred, then rubbed against her hand. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to use your litter box instead of my shoes and bed if I don't try to cram you in the cage?"

Kieri meowed, and Sakura swore to herself it sounded like a yes. She shrugged and shuffled under her blankets. After a few moments, she felt a light weight on her hips as Kieri climbed onto her and settled down. She stuck a hand out of the covers and scratched the cat behind the ears, and kept scratching as her cat purred and purred.

The next morning, Sakura woke up to find her hand still resting on Kieri's neck. She sat up and looked at the little kitten in her lap, its white fur gleaming in the sun. She gave it a little scratch, and got a loud, pleasant purr from it as it came awake.

Sakura ate her breakfast in peace, with Kieri sitting on the table beside her, waiting patiently. When she finished, she walked to the door and opened it, then turned back to her cat. "Would you like to walk to the store with me instead of being carried?" she asked politely.

Kieri stared at her for several seconds before walking out the door.

When they walked into the grocery store, Kieri immediately ran to the owner and meowed. He chuckled and gave her a pat. "What do you want today, little pretty kitty?" he asked cheerfully, and he seemed unsurprised when Kieri ran over to the meat display and tapped on the glass over the beef.

Sakura watched it happen, and nodded to herself. She walked over and crouched down next to Kieri, who looked up at her. "Do you want to pick your own food, all the time?" Sakura asked. Kieri meowed and purred at her, rubbing against her legs.

Sakura left a sizable chunk of money with the grocer, who was deeply amused by the arrangement and yet not particularly surprised. Sakura asked him why he was treating this as normal and got a laugh out of him.

"I've always been a cat person, Miss Haruno," Dan said, even as Kieri rubbed against his legs and meowed for attention. "I understand what they are, and what they are not. They are not pack creatures, and you are not their boss. They are loyal and respectful, but they demand such loyalty and respect in kind, and they are very independent. I am assuming you're trying to make a nin-neko out of it?"

Sakura nodded.

"Did you ask her first?"

Sakura shook her head, and blushed just a little. She noticed Kieri sitting at his feet, staring at her, and she swore the little fuzzball had a smirk on its face. That gimlet stare continued until the grocer distracted it with a pat. "I know a little about those folks who keep dogs as companions elsewhere in town. I am guessing they are big on commands and hierarchy, which is great for them. Dogs run in packs. Cats run alone."

"Maybe you should get to know what it is to be a cat, before you try to train one."

Sakura nodded, mostly to herself.

The rest of the week, Sakura spent most of her time with Dan when she was not training with Tsume or Kiba on her taijutsu. He was no ninja, and not particularly strong or smart or wise according to himself, but he knew cats, and knew how to teach Sakura about them. So she and Kieri hovered around the shop, talking to Dan between customers, which were few and far between.

Sakura had noticed the lack of visitors, and had commented. Dan had laughed at that from where he was at the time, sweeping the floor near the door. "I have few needs," he said cheerfully, "and no family to care for. My few customers are sufficient to pay my bills and keep my store stocked, and I don't mind hanging about the shop, so I need no hired help. One could say that I live here, and just happen to let people walk into my house and give me money for stuff out of my refrigerator."

Dan told her stories about cats he owned, cats he'd cared for, cats he'd heard about, and cats of legends from several cultures. He taught her to never trust a feral cat, which, having lost its trust in humanity, would lash out even against people who meant well. He taught her to beware when training, because cats were often cruel to their prey. Sakura had opened her mouth to assure him Kieri would never do that, then shut it when she remembered how the cute little kitten had treated the stuffed mouse toy she favored.

Sakura learned that cats were cunning animals under normal circumstances, never mind the smarter ones like Kieri that might be suitable for training. A cat would see a mouse run into a hole, and wait patiently for however long it took for their prey to forget their presence and place themselves within range for a strike. They were patient, stealthy, and quiet.

She also learned that cats vocalized very little except for when they interacted with humans, who generally failed to realize that body language was the language of felines. When two cats stared at each other, the slightest of movements could mean any number of things. She learned the basics, of tail twitches and ear positions, and over time she came to realize that Kieri had been trying to communicate with her as a cat since day one.

"That's probably good for your goals," said Dan when she brought it up. "Means she thinks of you more as a cat than as a human, that you're capable of understanding it or at least of making the effort. That's a sign of respect from you, and one given in return from her."

"She's waiting for you to ask, you know."

Sakura shook her head and focused on Dan. She had zoned out slightly, sitting in the sun on a bench outside of the shop. Dan had told her to do so for at least for an hour each day, just sit in the sun with her cat. Sakura had not understood the purpose at first, but after a little while, she realized that it was pure companionship. She sat next to her cat, who sat next to her, and that in itself was all that was needed to be considered good company. She found herself enjoying those moments, where the world was still and unfocused and utterly peaceful. It was peaceful in a way she never really felt or appreciated before. Sakura had taken to calling it her Lazy Cat Jutsu, and Dan had laughed and formally asked to adopt her technique for himself.

"Who?" she asked, snapping out of her lazy stupor.

Dan nodded to Kieri, who was laying on her side and watching them. "She's waiting for you to ask her to train as a shinobi's companion."

Sakura scratched Kieri behind the ears and smiled. "And I'm waiting for her to tell me how she feels. She already knows how I feel about it. Why bother her until she decides?"

Kieri sat up and stared at Sakura, her golden eyes intense. Sakura stared back, a lazy smile on her face, until Kieri stretched up and tapped Sakura's forehead protector. Sakura nodded and gave her another scratch, enjoying the warmth of the sun and the sound of her companion purring. "Okay," she said, leaning back and shutting her eyes. "Tomorrow."

EDIT: Another backlog chapter edited by Pom Rania. Thanks.

Author's Note: A little more talky and less active than I generally like my training sequence, but I felt that the biggest challenge Sakura would face would be learning how to interact with a cat, considering her own aggressive personality problem.

Originally, I used Positive and Negative Reinforcement incorrectly. I was aware of this, but when a reader thanks me for getting it right, I decided to come back and actually make it right. Enjoy the short explanation paragraphs.

I generally avoid OC anything. Lord knows Naruto has enough characters. But in my research, I found only one other possible trainer, who had a tiny part, and I could not justify her presence for this. However, my research did find something interesting, which may come up eventually. Anyhow, I decided I needed someone who knew cats, and opted to simply make someone whole cloth, and while they'll never be central to the story, Dan will come up again.

On particularly observant reader mentioned how Sakura would swap between "it" and "she/her" as the pronoun she uses when dealing with Kieri. Yes, this is deliberate, reflecting how much Sakura considered the cat a "person."