Charities and Puppies
By arrana
All General Disclaimers apply
Part of the Happily Ever After series
Summary: Sakura gets a little too friendly with street dogs, much to her husband's distaste.
--
Neji dropped a large package in front of Sakura; he stepped back to get a better look at her. The medic gave an impish smile and looked up, preparing for the verbal reprimand that was soon to follow. She could feel his hot gaze at the nape of her neck and with a few more moments of silence, she wondered when it was going to come.
Three
Two
One…
"Sakura, you are my wife and damn it I love you! But half of my paycheck for a donation to a dog shelter?" he began; his silver eyes searched hers and pinned those green orbs with a long stare.
"But Neji! Pooa the Dalmatian sends his love!" Sakura managed to turn away from his interrogation; her hands came into contact with a poster and showed it to her husband. On it, a large picture of a puppy with the words 'thank you' on the bottom.
"Pooa the Dal… last month it was Cat the cat. What happened to Cat the cat? I liked Cat," the Anbu looked at the poster again, he scoffed in distaste.
"But Neji-kun, doesn't it make you feel fuzzy inside knowing you helped feed Pooa?" his wife pleaded.
Neji sighed and sat down on the bed with her. The poor naïve soul actually thought the money was going straight to whatever critter they decided to put on that month's poster cover.
Pooa probably wasn't its real name.
"You do know that most likely, the money is not going anywhere near Pooa, but to the owner. It's a corrupt system," he slowly explained.
Sakura sobered, she looked at him incredulously. Seeing the look on her face, he wished he hadn't said anything.
"You mean, Pooa won't receive the money?"
"She won't,"
"It's a he," his wife snapped causing her husband to slightly recoil.
"Now Sakura, I know what you're thinking, and the answer is no," the Anbu said gently as he put an arm around her (more to restrain her from harming him than to placate her).
She looked up and stared at him innocently, "Whatever do you mean, Neji-kun?"
He sighed, "Sakura, we've been married for three years; I know when you're up to something,"
"But Neji! We must rescue those poor animals!"
The Hyuuga abruptly stood up, "I knew it! It has to be something like that. And I'll repeat it, the answer is no,"
"Neji–kun," she pouted.
"No,"
She crossed her arms, "Fine, but at least visit the shelter and say hello?"
He looked down and the sight before him almost took his breath away. There she was, sitting there still in her green pajamas and disheveled pink hair, she is the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. As proven by history, when had he ever said no to her?
"Fine…" and so he gave in to her. Like a man giving in to his wife.
Anbu captain, indeed.
--
The Anbu instinctively drew away in distaste as a small critter snuck up on him and pressed its small body against his leg.
Disgusting furball
A young girl approached him, she brushed a loose strand of hair and smiled flirtatiously, "So…um, do you need help with anything?"
"We're just looking," he said, scanning the area for his wife.
Sakura suddenly appeared behind the girl and said, "Actually, can you give me a tour of the shelter?"
"Sure," she answered halfheartedly giving one last glance at the tall Anbu who was busy trying to get rid of another love-smitten puppy.
"So…Michiko-san, I want you to show me everything. Balcony, cellars, hall ways, windows… security cameras," Sakura said, making sure she was out of her husband's hearing vicinity.
"Um… well, there is only one camera, I mean, it is only a shelter and who's going to steal from an animal shelt-"
"Where is the camera located?" Sakura interrupted
"Above the register,"
"Hmm hmm,"
"And that window up there, where does it lead?"
"Oh that? It opens up to the roof,"
"Hmm hmm,"
--
It was dark, Hyuuga Sakura turned to her side where her husband was peacefully sleeping. Carefully she got out of bed; Sakura temporarily froze when the bed squeaked from the unrestrained weight. She breathed a sign of relief when Neji did not stir. She quickly got dressed and tip toed to the front door.
Once outside, she ran straight to Ino's apartment and knocked vigorously. A grumpy blonde answered the door, but her drowsiness was quickly dismissed by her best friend. Sakura pushed her friend back in the house as Ino yelped.
"Is Shikamaru sleeping?" inquired Sakura
"Oh please, he can't get out of bed to save his life after what we just did," Ino smiled deviously much to Sakura's distaste, "yeah… twice,"
"Change into something less comfortable," the medic commanded, the blonde grumbled but quickly got dressed.
In two minutes the two friends found themselves alone on a deserted street. The only source of light was the dimming street lamp. A breeze of wind passed through and the two shivered slightly.
"Sakura," Ino whined, "threatening to steal one of every pair of socks I own is a cruel way to make me do your biddings,"
Sakura slightly smiled.
"Actually, now that I think about it, I don't need a whole pair. No," Ino said, "Mismatch isn't too bad, besides, Shikamaru is my husband and he could care less,"
"Oh stop your whining, this is the shelter," Sakura pointed to the building in front of them.
"How are we going to get in?"
"There is a window on the roof. Come on," quickly, Sakura leapt up and landed on the roof, beckoning for Ino to come too. The blonde groaned for the nth time that night and followed suit, landing noiselessly next to her friend.
Sakura's hand was already working on the latch and the window squeaked slightly as she opened it. Putting her body into the opening, the medic easily landed on the floor of the shop. She was shaken out of her concentration when a parrot squawked next to her ear. She heard a low thump behind her, indicating that Ino had gotten in too.
Wordlessly, she pointed to the black camera above the register, Ino nodded and the camera fell to the ground, a kunai delved deeply into its circuit.
"Split up," Sakura ordered.
Ino walked to the basement while Sakura stayed in the front. A puppy whined as she knelt down and gave it a pat. Sakura walked to the door and lifted up the latch, she carefully opened the door, letting the fresh air in the stuffy building.
She chose one big cage and started to transfer the all the dogs into it. The puppies yelped and whined as they were all finally inside the cage. Ino appeared with a big cage of her own. A large yellow dog inside suddenly barked loudly, it gave out a sharp cry as a small dart hit its neck.
"It's sleeping," Sakura explained, "So they keep the older dogs in the basement and the puppies in front? Disgusting,"
"Sakura, let's just get out of here,"
--
Kakashi mumbled to himself. The copy nin scratched the nape of his neck absentmindedly as he trudged painfully to the source of the loud pounding. Opening the door, his lazy eyes widened as his face was covered with some sort of liquid.
"Woof!"
"What!?"
"Woof!"
A small white puppy was held in midair by his former student. Sakura smiled impishly and forced the dog into Kakashi's embrace. The puppy wagged its tail and snuggled against his chest.
"Pakkun isn't going to be happy,"
--
Across town, Naruto opened the door only to be pounded by a large yellow dog. Trying to get up from the sudden ambush, his ears were deafened by a loud bark.
"Hey, why do you have a dart on your neck, girl?"
--
"Good morning Ino, what are you doing out so early? Oh, walking your dogs?" Tsunade waved.
"Tsunade-sama, take one, take one," Ino threw a small puppy up on midair, the older woman leapt forward to catch the crying puppy.
"What are you doing? Are you crazy?" she patted the shaking puppy gently.
"Yeah, yeah, just take it," and just like that, Ino dragged her big cage fill with dogs inside and ran the opposite way, leaving the Hokage to blink in confusion.
--
Neji was not in a happy mood. It was strange, not only did his wife disappear, but it seemed like the rest of Leaf's ninjas did too. He had been waiting at the Academy for an hour and nobody turned up yet. They needed to be disciplined, the lot of them. Five more minutes and he'll declare them all missing.
"Woof woof,"
"Ah hah," Naruto's nervous voice greeted the Anbu captain, "Sorry Neji, but my dog had an emergency this morning. You wouldn't mind if she joins us do you?"
Before Neji had a chance to answer, the Academy door swung open and the Fifth Hokage barged in with a puppy in her arms.
Slowly all of Leaf's missing nin turned up one by one; each accompanied by a puppy.
"Sorry Hyuuga, but I had to walk my dog this morning," Genma explained, still chewing on his senbon lazily.
--
When Neji came home that evening, he settled on his chair and turned on the TV. The announcer lady had just reported something about a broken in dog shelter and missing puppies.
Neji pretended he didn't hear.
XXXXXXXXXX
06-30-06
And the line about stealing one of every pair of socks belongs of wonderful writer Embla.