The Cat and the Bat.

It was night time. And it was pleasantly warm, the moonlight flitting through the gaps present in the canopy and the distant clouds. There was the constant cricketing and the cicadas chirping as the clouds slowly but eventually drifting to cover the moon.

His eye peeked a look as the light faded away from his crimson orbs. It was annoying him, and he couldn't even concentrate on staying awake. His ear flicked back at the annoyance of it all. First, the lullaby of the forest and now the soft and tempting urge to sleep under the moonlit tree. He just sighed and opened both his eyes, now staring at the his environment.

Huge trees with leaves so dark, they looked black; the trunk melding in with the shadows. The branches were perfect for relaxing, he quietly mused with a smirk. The fireflies were noiselessly flickering and roaming the grass and the leaves. There were various other creatures over the forest and he could hear them sleeping, snoring or even breathing. It was peaceful. Well, for everyone else but the Cat.

One particular creature he could hear very loudly. It was, in fact, right on the other side of the very tree he was lounging. He was irritated; everyone knew that this was
his tree. Nobody would even build their homes in it, very well aware that this was his turf.

Still.

One being thought otherwise though. Unexpectedly, she was already there, hanging on the branch from her knees as he arrived to his usual spot. It was just sunset, and it appeared that she was snoozing, her back towards the blood red sun and him. For a Bat, she was rather too…bright. He was only surprised at her appearance but said nothing, thinking that she was new to the forest. And right now, he was pretty much sure that this one ignored all the growls he had been making an hour ago.

It was well into midnight and now she was wide awake, her sighs, gasps and very obnoxiously loud breathing disturbing his peace. He wanted to climb the tree higher and stand on the very tip all night if he had to.

The moon shone as the clouds wandered away. He rolled his eyes. Damn moon.

"It's not that bad. Rather a beauty." He raised his head from his draped position on the branch. So she wasn't as air-headed as he thought. She was paying just as much attention to him, and vice-versa.

He huffed and then proceeded to compose himself. He lifted his hanging leg and arm and then leaned himself on the trunk. He sighed at the whole ordeal and shut his eyes, hoping that his companion would go away. She didn't.

"Stop sighing. You're disturbing my peace."

"The same applies to you and your breathing."

And at that, she said nothing. If anything, she just got more quieter at the comment.

Then only did he realize, that he actually said that he was having a problem with her living.

"I didn't mean it that way." He muttered, hoping that the Bat's ears would catch it. She didn't say anything though. He didn't mind it; he just settled for the sweet silence and tilted his head back.

The clouds covered the moon again.

"That's okay." A quiet melody amongst the lull of the forest. And her voice was keeping him very much awake, unlike the moon and the forest itself. He opened his eyes and stared at the star dotted skies. Thank goodness the clouds were very much less; he wouldn't be able to admire the twinkling diamonds in the sky.

"What are you doing here?" he asked. Her pink hair was rather absurd, but it matched quite well with her white clothing and the white wings draped around her body. The claws attached were clearly peeking from the folded position, when he last saw the Bat. Now, he was interested to see how she really looked, since it really was a long time since he saw her. He deemed her interesting the moment he did see her on his tree.

"I don't know. I ran away from my clan. Well, they threw me out, more likely… What about you?" The Cat tried not to look much into the simple statement. She said it like it didn't matter much. He was confused; what should he say?

"I come here every night." His tail twitched and flicked at the air. He settled for that reply and stared at his own clothing. He wasn't sure he could see it; it was as if the shadow itself was draped on him.

The said shadows lifted as the clouds went away.

"You're a White Bat aren't you?" He couldn't help but say.

"Yes. That was mainly the reason they threw me out." Again with the nonchalant reply. He quickly surmised what he knew about the clan.

Bats were easy to locate, but hard to find. They lived in maze-like caves far too deep to enter, for much of the creatures. White Bats were rare. If anyone ever found one, they'd be killed. They were considered to be serious bad luck.

The fact that her parents let her live for a good amount of time meant that they obviously loved her.

"You seem to be rather too casual about." He said. And then realized the irony of the situation. Weren't Black Cats considered bad luck as well? He smirked at the fact and then leaned his head back to the trunk again. At least he wasn't that rare.

She didn't say anything though.

"Are you planning to kill the 'bad omen'?" She said slowly, almost a whisper among the leaves. He smirked.

"No. If you haven't noticed, I'm the Black Cat." He heard a rustle at that, and then footsteps, as if someone was walking on the branch. He ignored it.

"I can't kill someone I can empathize with." He continued. The footsteps stopped, and then a few more rustles. His ears twitched at the noises and when they stopped, he suddenly found emerald green eyes in front of him.

"Forgive me, but I'm blind. I wasn't aware." Her lips moved as she quietly whispered. He forgot the most important point and mentally berated himself. But all was forgotten as he felt her eyes search the depths of his crimson orbs.

"You're rather beautiful for bad luck. Such a shame for your clan."

"The same applies to you." She inched forward slowly. He felt the air thrumming. They really did use echolocation. "You are a creature of the Night, aren't you?"

"Yes." He would've nodded, but doubted that she'd feel it, much less see it.

She then jumped off the branch she was hanging off of. And then padded to the far side of the branch and sat, her small translucent white ears twitching along the way. He stared at her form. She definitely was one of those mega bats, all five of her long claws gleaming in the moonlight. The attached webbed wings were carefully folded under her arms. Her dress was rather flowy and long, for somebody who lived by themselves in the wild. For all he knew, she really was new to this part of the world.

It'd be fun to introduce her to his 'friends.' They didn't discriminate unlike the others.

"How did you travel to this forest? It isn't easily accessible, at least from where you come." From what he knew, the trees were thickly interconnected, creating a web of sorts. As such, flying was hard, unless one wanted to get terribly damaged. The Leafy Forest, compared to the Rocky Cliffs, was much more plateau-type, and had a very few scattered caves around the area and very much far away from the cliffs, even so. Her survival must've been difficult, as the area didn't provide much of camouflage either.

The Bat sighed.

"You ask a load of questions for a Cat…" She said in an irritated voice. If anything, he just chuckled at the statement. He heard her gasp, but there was no comment after that.

"That is the curious nature of mine. Can't help it." The Cat said lightheartedly, trying to ignore the famous proverb.

"You've been sitting there since I awakened. And that was a long time ago. Why? Don't you have anywhere to go?" The Bat asked him instead. The Cat didn't reply. He looked up at the moon and blinked. It was a crescent moon.

He saw her lower her head from the corner of his eyes. She seemed dejected. Was the question that important? He didn't know.

He blinked at the moon again.

But he didn't want her to be sad again. She had enough of it apparently. More than him.

"I got kicked out too." He stared at the moon intently. He heard her soft breathing and was glad she didn't say anything next. He wouldn't be able to handle it.

Stupid family rules. Stupid family traditions… He sighed in frustration; they'd never allow him to do as he pleased. He buried his head in his hands, the memories awakening again.

Family… rules traditions… you can't do as… never… you have to choose… of course not… you have to follow the traditions… no… marriage is a holy… have faith… never… no… it is the rule… no… you must do as your father… it can't be free… I can't…

…never…

He didn't know how much time passed as the words repeated and the scenes played out. His eyes watered, as he stared unblinkingly, lost in the trance of the moon. He was sure he was taking advantage of her blindness; he would've never cried in front of anybody else.

He felt warmth beside him. and the warmth got closer, until eventually, he felt a body slide next to him. He made no motion to wipe his tears; they had already dried off. The Cat turned his head next to him, expecting to see the Bat staring intently at him.

She was staring at the moon as well.

He shook his head once and then did the same, watching a cloud move towards the moon.

"Sometimes, things in life happen for a reason…" she whispered, her voice more melodious up close. The shadows crawled over his eyes as he shut them close. Again.

"Well, I suppose so. Or else, we wouldn't have met, would we?" The Cat drawled as leaned his head back. He felt himself shift closer to her, surprised that he was even doing so in the first place. She was soft, her creamy skin cool against his warm skin.

The Bat leaned her head on his shoulder. He didn't mind it though.

"Yeah. We wouldn't have."

The moon shone brightly again, as his eyes opened. He leaned his head on hers as well.

And the Cat didn't expect to make another friend, in such short notice.

YAYY! OUR TENTH STORY! :D Yeah, so this is kinda weird. It's an AU. xD We weren't actually planning to even write it down, but then, once upon the century, I sat down and started thinking, THINKING! LOL.

As you can see, we are now not so much creative. Or else, we would've come up with better names, other than Leafy forest... -.- Whatevs. Ok, so as you notice, this fanfic is confusing.

FIRST, you already know who is who. If not,
Cat-Sasuke Uchiha
Bat-Sakura Uchiha

As you can see, bats have only three claws.
Firstly, the difference between microbats and megabats is that microbats have their middle claw missing, so it looks like only two claws. Megabats have all three of them intact. Mega doesn't usually mean that those types are actually MEGA.
Megabats can be as small as 6cm, so the term mega doesn't literally apply to them.
And yes, bats use echo-location. And they have poor vision, so just consider them to be blind. However, megabats sense of smell is excellent and fruit bats don't use echo-location. So use the maths. Sakura sensed Sasuke's emotions, just like how we sense the beach nearby from the air. And since she isn't a fruit bat exactly, she still uses echo-location to move about.

Any other issues, consult Wiki and the term BAT. xDDD

And like, Wiki didn't tell anything about White Bats, so I conjured some mumbo jumbo in accordance to my fanfic. Usually, I'd imagine white bats to be good luck because of their rarity. Here, it'd be like a bad omen. Like those beliefs, that when everything is going so...normal, yet something abnormal suddenly shows up.

Ok, so this isn't an one-shot exactly. There will be more chapters, somewhat relevant to each other. There will be pairings of other kinds, and if I'm creative enough; interaction between two pairings and whatever friends and buddies everyone finds. And etc. Like a party. :P

Next chapter will be NaruHina. :D

So, gimme your read, review and time, to get back thanks, cookies and love.
PS: I hate Aagwa.
PPS: This is our first attempt at creating a serious fic. :D
PPPS: Sasuke got kicked out because he refused to marry the girl his family wanted him to. So, yeah, now you know. Sasuke still visits his mom though. :)