Pairing: SasuNaruSasu
Rating: For this chapter, Teen. Overall, Mature.
Warnings: There really are no warnings… unless you don’t like dogs… or ticks.
Disclaimer: Yes, I just happen to be writing this story because I’m a super-rich mangaka. Yeah, I own nothing. (Read Disclaimer above.)
Foreword Authoress Notes: Yeah, this thing would be called my new story. (:
Akina-chan was always a handful. Whenever it was time for her bath, Naruto, Kiba, and Ino had the glorious task of chasing her through the facility. Sometimes even Shikamaru helped, but he usually spent his time “helping” by following the three and constantly muttering things that revolved around the word “troublesome”. But that was just Shikamaru.
Now, Sakura, on the other hand, would normally participate by screeching “helpful” tips at them while they harassed poor little Akina-chan. It’s not like it was her fault she had an acute fear of water, but they just had to try and catch her to give her a bath, now didn’t they? They could just let her be filthy and stinky, it’s not like she cared.
Usually when bath time hopped around, it would take them a few hours or so before they could actually catch her. But when Shino was around… dear Kami help her. That boy and his weird control over bugs scared the bodily fluid out of her. Literally.
…And guess who just happened to be around the corner Akina-chan flew around?
Upon seeing the sunglass-clad boy, Akina-chan’s heart flung itself into her throat and back into place again. Desperately, she tried to stop herself and run in the opposite direction, but it was futile. The hard linoleum floor was slippery against her tiny feet, and she thumped heavily against the tile, all hope of escape lost. Dear Kami, just take her now. Anything but the bath!
Praying to any god that would listen, she cringed as the slim fingers of Shino curled around her abdomen. “Got ya’,” he told her, holding the small puppy in front of his face. For Akina-chan, if looks could kill, Shino would be dead four times over by now. “At least there were no bugs this time.”
Okay, so one time she misplaced her footing and went barreling into a stack of empty boxes, sending them crashing down around her, causing a huge commotion, and ultimately caused her pursuers to nearly face-plant the floor trying to dodge them. It’s not like you needed to send a swarm of fleas after her for that.
Thankfully her savior, Naruto, came crashing around the corner soon after. Akina-chan yipped happily, and Shino handed the young Shiba Inu to the blond as he approached. Once in his non-buggy hands, Akina-chan continuously licked at the boy’s whiskered cheeks. “Hey, hey, Akina-chan, don’t act like Shino tortured you or something,” he laughed.
Oh, if only this poor idiot of a blond knew.
“Naruto! Look at what Akina-chan just did!” Sakura shrieked from behind them, pointing at the obvious puddle on the white floor with horror. Akina-chan wasn’t joking about the whole “scares the bodily fluid out of her”, you know.
“Oh, come on Sakura, it just one accident.” Naruto shrugged; so Akina-chan wasn’t potty-trained yet, big deal.
From behind Naruto, Kiba, Ino, and, eventually, Shikamaru emerged from around the bend as well. Hearing most of their conversation, Kiba, with Akamaru behind, walked up and scratched the reddish-colored puppy in Naruto’s hands. “Come off it Sakura, Akina-chan is a good dog—right, Akamaru?” He asked, taking his hand away and picking up his own pooch, who barked in approval.
“‘One accident’?! Naruto, every time we go on a wild puppy hunt, this happens! Do you not remember what Tsunade-sama told you?” Sakura told him, ignoring Kiba’s remark and Akamaru’s agreement.
Of course Naruto remembered, he just listened to what he thought was most important. Tsunade-sama had a tendency to ramble, so most of the time the best thing you could do was block out the boring things, and concentrate on what you thought was important. Which just so happened to not include potty-training.
“…And that if you didn’t, Akina-can would be sent to another shelter!” Sakura continued, not noticing Naruto hadn’t even heard her start to begin with. Although that last portion of her sentence did catch his attention.
“What?!” he shouted, disrupting some of the other dogs in the room conjoined to the hallway they were in. He clutched Akina-chan closer to his T-shirt clad chest as the Shiba Inu puppy whimpered and snuggled deeper into the orange fabric. “Tsunade-sama wouldn’t do that, would she?! She knows how much I’ve always wanted to have a dog! I won’t let her take Akina-chan!” A short “yip!” came as a reply.
“Well, start potty-training her! And, while you’re at it, try to get her less afraid of the water. Kill two birds with one stone.” She said heatedly, “This is becoming a constant occurrence, and we definitely don’t have the time for it. There are other animals we have to take care of, you know!”
“…Hai, Sakura-chan,” Naruto replied, using the honorific not commonly used between the group of friends.
Sakura’s facial features drooped with concern, and she took a step towards the young blond. “Look, I’m sorry Naruto, it’s just…”
“I’ll start right away, Sakura! She’ll be the best potty-trained puppy ever! You can believe it!” He shouted, his face brightening up and fist pumping the air, while holding Akina-chan securely against his chest in the other.
“We never did clean up the puddle after that did we, Akina-chan? We just left and let Sakura and the others have to deal with it.” Naruto finished scrubbing the last of her back, and while he was reaching for the hose connected to the large tub, he heard her chortle deep from in her chest. Naruto laughed with her as well. “It’s been three years since then, and that story is still the only thing that keeps you calm enough to let me wash you.”
When finished hosing her down, Naruto took off the latex gloves he was required to wear while washing and motioned for her to climb out of the washbasin and onto the portable grooming table he had ready. Once she had done so, Naruto rolled it to a place with better lighting for him to look her over for any parasites or anything that needed to be seen by Kakashi-sensei or Iruka-sensei.
Just as Naruto had finished the back half of Akina-chan, Shino and Ino walked into the grooming area, fetched themselves some disinfectant, towels, and other cleaning supplies from the cabinets underneath the sink before leaving without a word. Naruto was actually quite glad about that, since bath and grooming time was the most he could spend alone with Akina-chan in the week.
And then, of course, Ino had to return after few minutes. Whatever god there was hated him with a passion, didn’t it?
“Naruto-kun, when you’re done with Akina-chan, Tsunade-sama wants to see you in her office. She says it’s very important. She also asked me to let you know that Iruka-sensei will be coming in later today, he had previous engagements.” And without a word, she retreated back out the door, too quick for Naruto to turn around and thank her.
That would be Ino for you, quick and to the point. She said as much as she needed too in as little time as possible. Of course Tsunade-sama would choose her to work in the shop; it was the perfect place for her. Even if the customers were sometimes shocked at how curt she was.
Iruka-sensei had previous engagements, huh? Naruto thought to himself, while feeling Akina-chan’s front limbs for unusual markings, swellings, or bumps. Iruka was Naruto’s personal tutor, per se, yet not officially qualified as a teacher, or anything near one. He was, though, a veterinarian technician for the animal clinic located on the north side of Konoha. Since they had plenty of workers, though, Iruka usually spent most of his time at the shelter. Maybe he finally found himself a nice girl? He chuckled to himself, while finishing checking over the forelegs, chest, and neck of Akina-chan and moving onto her head and mouth.
He checked the inside of her ears while he thought about why Tsunade requested to see him. Could it be because of how messy I have kept things lately? School has picked up a lot, so maybe I can use that as an excuse… Or could it be another intern? Except Tsunade-sama hardly ever accepts the numerous volunteers and interns that show up. And, she only accepts students who are in veterinary school—and even then, it hard as hell for her to like you…
“Tsk, tsk, Akina-chin,” Naruto playfully scolded her, using the “baby talk” honorific for his beloved pet. “It seems like you have tick…” Akina-chan cast a sly glance at the door Shino had entered not five minutes before. She swore he was out to get her.
“Hey, now, I doubt it was Shino. You probably got this little bugger from that walk a few days ago, the one for the orphanage downtown.” Naruto didn’t know what it was, but Akina-chan has this weird paranoid thought that Shino was out to get her.
While walking over to the counter and pulling open a drawer, he saw Akina-chan glare at door. Naruto could swear on his life there was no other human-like dog that could compare to Akina-chan. It’s was like a human trapped in a dog’s body. Though, really, Naruto shouldn’t be comparing humans to animals like that. Really. We were all just the same; we all had the same desires, all that was different were the outward appearances.
After reaching into the drawer and retrieving a pair of tweezers, he returned to the table. Taking her left ear in his hand and slightly bending it, he took the tweezers and grabbed the head of the tick. With a gentle yet strong pull, the pencil eraser-sized tick was free of Akina-chan’s ear. “There you go, all better,” Naruto breathed into her now tick-free ear. Akina-chan growled playfully, telling Naruto that she enjoyed it, even if it did make her ear twitch annoyingly.
Naruto patted her head lightly, and moved on to check her eyes, ears, and mouth. When he found nothing abnormal in her eyes, her nose wet and glistening, and healthy gums and teeth in her mouth, he officially labeled her as ‘done’.
“Come on, girl,” he began as he unhooked the restraint from her collar, “Why don’t we see if Chouji has anything for you to eat in the kitchen?” Akina-chan woofed happily, shook her behind, darted off the table, and stopped at the door to wait for her owner. Even though neither of them considered Naruto to be an owner; it was more like ‘companion’ or ‘friend’.
“Coming, coming,” he called as he picked up the tweezers and discarded the tick into the trash bin, and quickly washed the tweezers before replacing them in the drawer he originally got them from. “Come on, who’s up for ramen?”
The facility consisted of four levels: a basement, the main floor, the living quarters of the interns and boarded pets, and the attic. Naruto, currently on the main floor, briskly walked out of the grooming room, around a few turns, and took the stairs two at a time to the kitchen, which was located on the third level.
“Oai-deki-te ureshii-desu, Chouji!” Naruto greeted the tall, yet stout, man as he walked into the surprisingly well decorated kitchen, Akina-chan close behind.
“Hajimemashite, Naruto-kun?” Chouji asked the young hyperactive blond while setting the ever-constant bag of chips down, and reached above him, opened one of the many cabinets, and pulled out the always Uzumaki Naruto favorite: instant ramen. This time it was cup ramen, since he could tell Naruto was here for a quick visit. Of course, he didn’t forget Akina-chan, and pulled a second one down as well.
“Genki-desu, arigatou.” He replied, taking both packages over to the microwave. Akina-chan barked and wagged her tail happily at Chouji’s feet, adding her input.
Naruto really would have preferred boiling water and then adding it to the dried pasta, or better yet—Maruchan instant ramen, but since he was short on time, he just quickly filled each cup with water and plopped both of them into the microwave. He knew the salty food wasn’t good for Akina-chan’s health, but this was a rare occurrence, being pressed for time. Naruto set the time to six minutes.
“Anata wa?” Naruto asked Chouji, continuing their conversation, and set himself on the granite counter next his friend.
“Watashi-mo genki-desu, arigatou.” He replied curtly. Naruto could have sworn Chouji and Ino were too alike to not be twins, at least in the sense of their personalities. They were so blunt it was almost annoying. (1)
Chouji continued, “I heard Tsunade-sama has found another intern to take into the facility. Have you heard anything about them?”
So, she has taken a new intern in, he thought to himself. To Chouji he replied, “Ja, ne?” It was a common phrase around the shelter, often used in place of terms like, “I know, can you believe it?” or “So, what now?” Its definitions were virtually endless, but no matter how it was used, the small group of interns usually knew its meaning.
“Ah, yes. I really don’t understand it either. You would have thought the seven of us were pretty capable.” He chuckled to himself.
Naruto scratched his head and looked at the timer on the microwave. He still had three minutes and fifty seconds. “Mmm, yeah. I’m just hoping it’s not a guy, especially one Sakura or Ino can get all googly-eyed over. I bet they have hot boy ADHD.” This time Naruto was the one to laugh at his own joke, and Chouji gave a grunt of approval.
“I’m also anticipating that I’m not the one to tour the poor person around. It gets so boring,” he complained to his friend.
Chouji grunted in agreement while munching on his chips. For a few moments, Naruto switched between watching his friend eat and watching Akina-chan, who was currently at the end of his dangling feet, panting and wagging her tail so that it made a slight “whoosh” as it slid across the tile.
And, then, for what seemed like a million awkward silences later, the three consecutive beeps of the microwave sounded, letting Naruto know that his and Akina-chan’s ramen was done. Akina-chan let out a happy, “yip!” as she jumped up and onto all fours to follow Naruto to the microwave. Her tail was going a mile a minute; Akina-chan was definitely a fan of ramen, just like her companion.
Carefully taking the cheap styrofoam cups from the microwave with an oven mitt, he set them down on the small dinette table close by. Akina-chan whimpered softly at not being able to immediately eat her food, and her tail slowed in it’s rapid pace to show her disapproval. “Now, don’t look at me like that, Akina-chan. You know you can’t eat it directly after cooking.” Another whimper followed—this one of sad agreement.
A couple of minutes later, Naruto had finished his cup noodles in seconds, whereas Akina-chan was happily gobbling hers at a pace that would not induce choking. Naruto rose from the dinette chair, stretched, and rubbed his now content stomach. Chouji was still eating, his gaze and position having not change in the past minutes.
“Ah, Chouji?” Naruto questioned.
“Hmm?” Chouji returned, his way of asking what Naruto desired of him.
“Well, how should I put this…,” Naruto pondered how to begin, “Tsunade-sama requested to see me, and seeing as how she’s grumpy enough as it is, I don’t want to make it worse. So, I was wondering, do you think you could watch Akina-chan while I go to her office?” Naruto didn’t like being separated from Akina-chan, and avoided it as much as possible, but Tsunade-sama, even as big as an animal lover as she was, had a strict rule against animals in her office. All, of course, except for Tonton, Shizune’s pig.
“Eh, no problem, maybe I can test some of my new recipes on her.” Chouji agreed, laughing at Naruto’s look of horror. Chouji was every shelter animal’s personal “chef”, seeing as how he was studying diet and nutrition for domestic animals at the same university every other intern came from: Konoha’s Regional Academy of Veterinary Medicine. Most of his… experiments turned out to be pretty disgusting, but a few concoctions had turned out pretty well, like the peach and lamb platter he gave the kennel dogs on Christmas a few years ago. Not to mention the apricot, avocado, and zucchini mixture was a huge hit with all the herbivores. The good news was that it kept the shelter animals healthy, happy, and not hungry, while still giving Chouji a chance to hone his skills.
“Well, I just leave her with you, heh.” With that, Naruto left a somber looking Akina-chan with the devious chef, Chouji.
Naruto took the stairs two at a time; even though he could have just as easily taken the elevator. It was just that the elevator was too slow for his constant need to go and move.
Reaching the bottom, he lightly jogged through a few of the multiple hallways, before turning a corner into the main area. It was quite breathtaking really, and Naruto always felt a little pang in his heart every time he saw it. There was a large reception desk to his left, the top a creamy marble, and to his right the smooth pale yellow wall continued before turning right and following along until you came to the dog and small animal section. In front of him a seating area was arranged and beyond that were clear glass cages for the multiple cats and kittens the shelter housed. And then to the right of that were five or six glass visitation areas; places for potential owners to preview, per se, their next possible pet.
None of that was exactly important know, since he only needed to be around the other side of the reception desk, and to the frosted glass door. That was where Tsunade-sama’s office resided in this maze of a facility. And it was there he needed to be.
Cautiously opening the glass door, Naruto poked his bright blond head into the opening, and azure blue eyes scanned the book-lined office. Her office was empty, for the time being, so maybe this was his chance to go in unnoticed and…
“Uzumaki!” Came a resounding boom from behind him, and he felt the heavy book slam onto his golden locks.
“Owww,” Naruto moaned, moving out of the way for the ample-bosomed woman pass through before following her. “What did you do that for, Tsunade-baba-chan?!” It was Naruto’s pet name for Tsunade-sama: Tsunade-baba-chan, and despite what certain parts of her could convey, the owner and manager of the animal shelter was fifty-nine, nearly sixty.
“You were late, that’s why,” she replied coldly, turning on him with a glare. Ugh, scary old lady, Naruto thought fearfully.
“So what did you call me her for, Baba-chan?” He asked innocently, twisting his pinky finger in his ear with a huge grin on his face.
“Naruto, as you probably know, since nothing can be kept QUIET, Shizune! we will be having a new intern join us,” She replied hotly, glaring into the other room where Shizune, Tsunade’s assistant and secretary, and Tonton, her pig, had an office. Shizune, not the pig.
“Erm… Well, yeah, Chouji just told me when I went to get some food.” That reminded him of Akina-chan, which made him miss her, even if he had just left her alone less than five minutes ago.
“Good. I guess I’ll brief you on some facts before he arrives…” She continued in a serious tone, hands splayed over each other as she stared at the twenty-one year old blond. “Now, his name is Uc— “
“It’s a guy?!” Naruto nearly shouted, causing Tsunade-sama to raise one perfectly trimmed blonde eyebrow in a questioning manner. Well, fuck. No, fuck doesn’t even cover this. How about shit? No, shit wouldn’t work either…
“Yes, Naruto, do you have a problem with that?” There was an edge to her voice that he implied shouldn’t interrupt again, or a certain book is going to end up smacking the side of a certain someone’s head. “Now, as I was saying before, his name is Uc—,” she paused, daring Naruto to interrupt her, before continuing, “—his name is Uchiha Sasuke. Twenty-one years old. Currently studies at the Konoha’s Regional Academy of Business and Engineering. He will be staying with us until his bro—“
Once again, Naruto interrupted, “Are you telling me that you allowed someone who isn’t even studying medicine—at least!—take an internship here? When the hell did that rule change? Did I miss a memo, or something?!” He spat at Tsunade-sama viciously.
“Naruto!” She demanded, her vision flickering to thick hardback book sitting next to her on her desk. Naruto gulped apprehensively, getting the message she was sending him. “Please. Calm down and let me finish, you can comment afterwards.”
That seemed pretty fair to the whiskered boy, seeing as how he would have a lot to comment about.
“Yes. Well, as I was saying, Uchiha Sasuke will be staying with us until his brother, his guardian, deems he has spent enough time in our care.” Here she paused, eyeing Naruto carefully, “I have sent Iruka-sensei to fetch him from the designated meeting point. He should be here any second, but, nevertheless, whenever he does arrive, you will be the one to give our grand ‘ole tour.” She smiled wearily at her own joke. Naruto didn’t find it funny.
“Now are there any questions or comments?” Again that damn smile.
“Yeah, two actually: What do mean by ‘deems he has spent enough time under our care’? And, secondly, why the fuck do I have to show him around?!” Naruto was sure his voice rose on the last part of that sentence, but he didn’t really care who heard him or not right now.
Tsunade-sama sighed, “Naruto, I am sorry that you have been chosen to do another tour, but Sasuke’s guardian requested that we give him the best of the best, so I chose you.” Naruto opened his mouth to speak, but Tsunade-sama held up a finger to shush him, “And to answer your first question, it means that Sasuke will be treated as a regular intern. He will be fed, showered, and put to bed under this roof. But only for however long his guardian sees as necessary; it could range from a few weeks to two, three years. I don’t know.”
Naruto was deathly quiet as he glared at the floor. He already had a deep dislike of the young man, even before he met him. Tsunade-sama had thoroughly answered his question, so he really didn’t the need to speak… except one thing: “When is he coming?”
“That,” she stated matter-of-factly, “could be anywhere from—“
Yet again she was interrupted, but not from Naruto’s uncontrollable mouth. It was the sound of high-pitched, fangirl-like squeal.
“Now.” Tsunade-sama stated.
Fuuucckkk.
(1) – Your probably wondering what the hell they’re saying up thur, right? Well, here you go.
-- “Oai-deki-te ureshii-desu, Chouji!” translates to “I’m glad to see you, Chouji!”
-- “Hajimemashite, Naruto-kun?” translates to “How do you do, Naruto-kun?”
-- “Genki-desu, arigatou.” translates to “I’m fine, thank you.”
-- “Anata wa?” translates to “And you?”
-- “Watashi-mo genki-desu, arigatou.” translates to “I’m fine as well, thank you.”
End Authoress Notes: (July 6th, 2008) omfgsh. This took for fuggin’ ever. It’s two thirty in the morning, and I started at, like, six. I know, right? You know what the real shocker is? Sasuke was supposed to actually be described in the first chapter, as well as shown around, introduced, and all those good fugg nuggets. And guess where all that shizzz showed up? Definitely not in this chapter.
Well. Since I was going to give all the good juicy details of what my was-to-be-second-but-now-is-my third chapter here, but can’t… you’ll have to wait until the second chapter is published, motherlickers. (Kidding.) :D I’ll give you one little detail, though: it’s amazing how close you can get when a mad, sadistic cat is on guard duty. Or, wait, is that the fourth chapter? …Hmmm. It does happen eventually, though!
And when I say close, I mean the physical kind, mwahahaha. And, no, no "big scenes" yet! There will be! …Eventually.
Read Me! From now on, Tsunade, Iruka, Kakashi, and Akina will be referred to without the honorifics when not in quotes, i.e. only with the (-whatever) when someone is talking about/to them. It was to much of a b!tch to handle typing so often. D: ahahaha.