This is a going to be a four-shot. It is already done, but I didn't want to throw all fifteen thousand words at my readers at once. I split it up best I could. This is AU.

I own nothing but the plotline I came up with.

Crazy Cat Lady

Sakura should have known that something was off by how great her day was going so far. It was strange, she knew, and even if she should have, she wasn't going to question it.

She had woken up on time for once, and instead of hitting the snooze and rolling over like she would have on any other day, she actually took the time to get up and complete her morning rituals without being in a rush. She even had time to stop for breakfast, something she loved, but something she rarely had time for.

She had plenty of time to make it to the last day of her summer internship at the hospital today, and her unusual morning was totally worth the shock on her coworkers' faces as she arrived before any other students. That never happened. She was more known for her tardiness (something she must have picked up from her lazy silver-haired teacher in high school) than her promptness.

Since she wasn't taking summer courses, her school had offered to set up a month long internship so she could get used to the working environments. It wasn't very long, but she had only just finished her first year of medical school. The experience was well worth all the times she was called in.

It had even paid a little bit, which was good. She had gotten a few scholarships to help out with her funding, and while she was in class, she did some work study stuff to help pay rent. Between the two, she had enough to cover her for the summer until her classes started back up again.

The hospital was a lot of work, but it was worth it. Sure, she had worked all of the weekends and some odd hours of the night, but if she was making a difference, it didn't matter to her. She didn't always know what to do, but she supposed she'd learn soon enough.

Today had been her last day, and it had gone particularly well. She hadn't even made any embarrassing mistakes like most other days. She shivered at the thought, despite the sun. The bedpan incident was never going to be mentioned ever again.

Now, at least, she had two whole months of summer to catch up on everything she had missed while at her first year of college.

She hadn't seen her friends in a long time. Some of them she hadn't even talked to since high school, even though they were right here in Konoha. She felt a little bad about it, but when she got busy she tended to block out everything other than what she was focusing on. She missed a lot of them, but they were probably busy with school too anyway. Besides, the phone worked both ways right?

The only soul she had really stayed in touch with was Ino, and that was because the blonde always invited herself over without any preamble and called at whatever time she felt like it. Sakura was glad for it though.

In high school, she wasn't really what someone would call a social butterfly. She had a lot of friends, sure, but she wasn't one to try and attract attention to herself. That was Ino's specialty. Sakura wasn't much of a partier, and she hadn't dated. There had been a few boys she had her eye on, like the pretty sullen boy she had known forever, but she was always more of a friend to all of them than anything.

Dating now was…complicated. It was always complicated. She didn't have a lot of spare time in the life she chose to lead. She wanted someone that would just be happy with what she offered, without expecting more. She was willing to give everything she could, but it never seemed like it was good enough. That was all she really wanted out of life now, seeing how her career was being taken care of.

Ino had self-proclaimed it her mission to make Sakura 'get out more', as she put it. Years of being forced out of her home to go to parties and the like ensued. Sometimes being dragged places made school difficult, but Ino was her best friend and Sakura always found it hard to say no.

Besides, she might've gone crazy without something other than schoolwork in her life. Her habits had carried over into college, and she found that Ino still liked to drag her places whether she wanted to go or not. That had dimmed a bit though in this last month. Her internship had taken up a lot of time, and Ino knew that it was important to her.

She had been kept mellow with the promise that Sakura would call her as soon as her internship was over. It was a silent promise to make up for all the lost time, and Sakura wondered if she should be worried. Still, it was nice to just hang out sometimes. She might even call her today, actually. A trip to the spa with her best friend sounded wonderful. It would be nice to get out.

Sakura didn't even know the last time she had been out, let alone on a date. Now that she thought about it, she hadn't gone out since the last time Ino forced her. That had been before the internship started. She made a face as she walked down the mostly empty side walk. There was no doubt that her blonde friend would take the liberty to set her up blind if she knew.

Shaking her head, she cleared the thoughts from her mind as she continued on towards her apartment. The sun was shining, the sky was clear, and she wasn't going to let anything ruin the rest of her day.

The day had been short at the hospital. It was mostly review for all who had been a part of the program. They signed a few papers and were told information about signing on again next year. After leaving, she had stopped at her favorite Chinese restaurant. She hadn't made much time for it while she was so busy, and she was glad to finally start having a life again. Sweet and sour chicken was her favorite thing to get.

She had even remembered to eat her fortune cookie this time. She was a bit puzzled on the message inside, be wary of cats, but was nevertheless happy. She smiled at the people who passed her on the sidewalk. She didn't have a cat anyway.

A tune sounded from one of the open windows down the street, and she added a little bounce in her step as she walked to match the beat. She was glad to finally have some time to herself.

She continued down the street until an echoing crash made her slow to a stop at the front of an alley. There was a short scraping sound, and Sakura stepped a short ways into the alley to get a better look. Nobody was around, but she reminded herself to be careful anyway. Didn't they always say girls shouldn't go into dark alleys by themselves? Never mind the fact that it was still daylight hours.

She jumped slightly as a dark mass moved in her peripheral vision. Her eyes darted to it, and she took a step back. Looking a little closer, she calmed down as she saw what looked like a brown tarp bag sitting next to a garbage can with the lid off. It sat a few feet away.

Everything was still, and she scolded her mind for playing tricks on her. The lid just fell off the can, that's all. She was about to turn out of the alley and continue on to her apartment when she heard the scuffling again. This time when she looked back, everything was not still.

The bag she had accused her mind of moving was indeed moving. In fact, she thought she could hear some type of noise coming from it.

Instead of freaking out, the second bit of information processed, and she rushed over to the trap as she realized that some poor animal was probably confined within it.

The noise grew in volume as she neared, and the healer in her called out to it. Kneeling down next to the moving mass, she searched for the top of the bag as quickly as she could. Who knew how long the poor thing had been stuck in there. If she was correct, it had probably been put in the trash can as well, and had been struggling to get out.

She found the leather cord holding the container together and loosened it, making way for the mass of fur that emerged from the top of it.

Sakura got up quickly, stepping back a short ways. She didn't know if the animal was tame or not, and if it grew violent, she didn't want to think about all the diseases she could get if it bit or scratched her.

She watched as the grey mass shuffled out of its container. As she looked at it, she realized that it was a cat. It was fluffy, and the shade of its hair was slightly duller than her old teacher's. It proceeded to shake the bag off of itself, and when it was finally free, it took a moment to smooth down its ruffled fur. She couldn't tell how old it was, but the size of it, as well as the notch missing from its ear, told her that it was probably middle aged. She remembered her grandma having an older cat in roughly the same shape.

Sakura watched it fix itself with its back to her. When satisfied, it turned around, and she was a little unnerved by how it looked at her. It seemed to be guessing exactly what she was thinking. After a few seconds of looking, finding nothing interesting, it licked a paw and brought it over its ear.

Still a little weirded out, she started slightly when she heard a voice. "Why thank you, dear. That was beginning to be a bit insufferable."

Confused, she turned her head towards the street, trying to find the source of the voice. Finding nothing, she glanced back at the cat only to have her eyes widen. In the spot where a cat had sat not a few seconds before stood an older woman instead. She was smoothing down her grey hair, and she seemed to be humming a little tune.

She finished and looked up. "There, now that's that." The older woman stepped a little closer, off of the brown bag the cat had previously been sitting on, Sakura noted, and the pink haired girl was too shocked to move in response. "Now, let's have a look at my rescuer."

Sakura was confused. She didn't say anything as the woman stepped even closer to her, holding her at arms length in order to inspect her. "Well, aren't you a pretty one. I bet you've got boys chasing you up and down the block." If Sakura's brain was working right, she might've laughed.

"And these hands." The lady moved her hands down to Sakura's, turning them palm-side up. "Definitely healers hands. A kind hearted soul to boot. I've certainly done something right to have such a gem help me today."

The grey haired woman looked up at her then and smiled. "Don't look so lost, dear. You do remember, right? You helped me out of the bag."

Sakura could only stare as she had been for a past few minutes. What was she talking about? It was the same voice she heard earlier, but she could've sworn that voice came from the…

"…Cat."

The older woman blinked at her for a moment before smiling again, clasping her hands together. "Oh good! You can talk. I was worried for a minute that you had memory loss." She paused to think for a minute, putting a finger to her chin. She continued on, more to herself. "Now, where did I put that-"

"Cat." Sakura cut the woman off in her monologue, only one thing on her mind. She had saved a cat. What was this? "I helped a cat. Where did-"

"Yes, yes." The grey haired woman waved her hand in dismissal, looking about her and paying little mind to Sakura. She seemed to be searching for something on the ground. "It's very hard to do things without thumbs. I'm grateful for helping me out of that mess. Who knows how long I would've been stuck in that sack."

Sakura stared as the woman padded down her coat, digging in the pockets with a thoughtful look on her face. Was the lady trying to tell her that this old woman was the cat? Her head spun.

With a brightened expression, the woman turned abruptly back to the brown bag she had -supposedly- come out of, the conversation sparking a memory. She ruffled through it for a moment, and with a cry of delight, she removed what looked to be a small, worn book from it. Crowing with victory, she turned back towards Sakura with another smile on her face.

"Now, since you did me a great favor today, it's only fair that you be rewarded."

"But-"

The grey haired lady held up a hand. "I will hear none of it. You deserve it, dear." Sakura could only blink again. What was going on now? It seemed that things were happening way too fast all of a sudden. "Now, let's see what you're really searching for, shall we?"

The woman, who was still nameless, took a moment to look lovingly at the book before opening it carefully. She poured over the pages silently, the only noise made between them being the occasional crinkling of a turning page. Sakura didn't move or say anything. She was still trying to wrap her mind around the fact that this lady talked as if she was a cat as well as the human she appeared to be right now.

"I see now." The woman's voice brought Sakura out of her thoughts. She had a soft smile on her face, Sakura noticed, as if she found something sweet. "I know what you really wish for. How wrong would it be for you to not get it?"

Sakura, not for the first time today, was confused. What exactly had she gotten herself into today? She wondered if it was too late to make a run for it. Then again, she couldn't deny the fact that she was genuinely curious to hear what the woman had to say. What she really wanted? She wasn't even sure she knew herself.

Sakura only caught bits and pieces of the lady's next words. They were more like mumbles, as she seemed to be talking to herself. What she did hear didn't clarify any of her thoughts, however.

"Now where is he?" She began flipping through pages a little faster than before, looking for something specific. A wrinkle appeared in her brow and she made a 'tsk' sound as she frowned. "What is he doing that for?"

Sakura continued to be silent. He who?

"Ugh." Sakura watched the woman rub at her forehead in an agitated matter. "This could take a while. It's a good thing we have time. If he's anything, it's definitely stubborn." She glanced at Sakura, a smile coming to her face. "Well, we'll just have to fix that then, won't we?"

She took a step closer, and Sakura found herself taking one back. Something had changed, but she couldn't place her finger on what it was. The air seemed thicker, and for some reason, the look she was getting made her concerned. She was fairly confident that she could fight off an old lady is she needed to, but she was a healer, not a fighter. Hurting someone else never appealed to her.

"Relax, dear. You're going to thank me for this one day."

Sakura moved to take another step back only to panic slightly when she couldn't. Her eyes darted to her shoes, but there was nothing visibly restraining her. Still, her feet seemed glued to the ground.

She moved her eyes up to the woman's. She was saying something, but she couldn't tell what it was. Her hearing had started to fade. In fact, she could barely tell the woman's lips were moving as her sight started to darken. She wasn't dumb. She knew she was about to pass out.

If she could've, she would've sighed. If she knew this was what waited for her today, she would've just gone back to bed this morning. She should've known it was too good to be true.

A thought hit her then, and she swore that from now on she would always listen to her Chinese fortune. It was almost fitting, she thought, that she would forget all about the strange fortune she had until right this second.

Be wary of cats.

Her vision faded to black, and Sakura wondered if it was too much to ask to have just one day where something didn't go wrong.

I will have the next part up in a few days. There is also a poll up on my profile, if you would be so kind.

I'm also happy that Chains is close to 500 hits. That's not bad, considering that I'm not known for my Naruto fics yet. In time, in time. I also attempted humor. Better examples of that are to follow soon...I hope. Thanks for reading.