Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
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There are stories that tell of a bakeneko who shape-shifted into a beautiful girl, so that her owner would not be lonely.
Legend of the Bakeneko
Once upon a time there was a young man with dark hair and darker eyes, he was beautiful, wealthy and much revered by the people of his village. Women wanted him and men envied him. Any female old enough to have children wanted to be his wife… but he turned them all away.
Why would he do that? Why did he want to be alone?
When the man was younger he suffered a horrible tragedy and was forced to live in solitude. Having grown bitter over time, he turned people away for his own foolishness.
"They don't know the hell I live every day." He would tell himself, and he would scowl at them. "I do not need them."
He was cruel toward anyone offering a hand in friendship and companionship, and soon…
People feared him.
"Don't go near him! He'll kill you!" they gossiped. "His glare is poison and you will drop dead right on the spot!" The man scoffed. He did not care.
Let them be afraid, let them fear me, he thought. Perhaps he was meant to be alone from the start.
He grew older, and the young women who would once kill for his attention married other men and lived happily and bore many children.
The man did not care. He would die alone and take his forsaken blood with him.
Those were his thoughts as he retired for bed one evening, ignoring the heavy rain pounding against his house.
As the man closed his eyes he heard a strange sound at his door.
After a few silent moments, he convinced himself he had imagined it and tried to sleep again.
But like the last time, the moment he closed his eyes the sound was heard.
A cat mewling at the door, probably to be let in from the storm.
"Cheh, let the creature drown." He muttered to himself and turned over in bed. He did not hear the cat for some time and began to wonder.
What if it really had drowned? On his doorstep? On his property?
A dead cat was something he did not need near his home. So he got up and went to the door, sliding it open cautiously and peering out into the storm.
There was no sign of the cat.
Assuming that the cat had gone to bother someone else, he went back into his house…
Only to find the cat laying, sopping wet in his bed.
"You! Beast, get out of my bed!" The cat pleaded the man with its soft pale eyes and he cursed under his breath.
"Fine." The man moved to get some spare blankets to make a bed for himself on the floor as the cat rolled in his bed to get dry and warm.
And they slept. When the man woke the next morning there was a hot breakfast waiting for him, but the cat was nowhere to be found. He ate it cautiously and didn't think about it or the cat for the rest of the day.
That night as he went to turn in for bed, the cat was at his door again. Curiously he let it in. The cat jumped onto his bed and stared at him. They watched each other for several moments before the man left to get blankets again, this time making a bed for the feline. He patted it down and the cat happily jumped onto the makeshift cushion.
They slept.
Again, the next morning the man woke to a hot breakfast, the blankets were put away and there was no cat. But that night the feline would return.
This routine continued for weeks until the man's curiosity became too great.
"Where do you go?" He asked one night as the cat curled into its bed. "How do you do it?"
The cat cracked one pale eye open and looked at him, eyes gleaming mischievously. They watched each other again until the cat stretched, turned away from him and slept.
This night the man did not sleep. He waited for the morning to come to see how the cat did it.
When the morning sky began to lighten the man smirked feeling like he had won and closed his eyes for a few seconds. By the time he opened them again, the blankets were gone, the sky was bright, a breakfast was sitting before him and once again, the cat was gone.
How was that possible? He must have dozed off. The man ate the breakfast quickly and went about his daily activities, his mind thinking of a way to discover the cat's secrets.
The night fell and the man had devised a way to hopefully keep the cat with him through the night.
Before the cat could mewl at the door, the man opened it and invited it in. The cat looked at him curiously as it passed through. He closed and locked the door behind it. The cat sat on the floor at the other end of the room watching him closely.
"Hungry?" the man inquired and walked into his kitchen, stirring something in a pot. After several minutes he served the cat a small bowl filled with miso soup. He sat down across from it and devoured his own bowl, being sure to keep one eye on the cat.
"Won't you eat?" the man motioned to the bowl before the cat, and with one final glance, the cat finally took to licking at the steamy broth.
"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. What's yours?" The cat purred innocently as it continued to drink the meal. "Do you have any family?" At this question the cat looked up at him with wide unreadable eyes.
"I don't. They… died when I was young." He closed his eyes and rested his head against the wall behind him as the cat lay down as well, watching him. "I'm fine alone. I don't… need anyone." He choked, paused, and continued, "I'm just fine without… anyone." Sasuke said to himself more than the cat who continued to stare at him as though it were actually listening and understanding.
After a minute of silence Sasuke looked at the feline who was still watching him and beckoned it with a wave of his hand. The cat did not hesitate to stand and walk over to him, rubbing against his palm and purring loudly. Sasuke sighed.
"But… I suppose it is nice… having someone for company. Though you're probably the only company I could stand. I'm bitter." The cat made a soft noise and looked at him with sympathetic eyes. Sasuke didn't realize he was crying until the wetness fell off his chin and onto his lap.
He sobbed quietly, "I'm alone." The cat mewed softly and cuddled against Sasuke as he cried himself to sleep.
The next morning he awoke to the sound of someone moving in his kitchen. He stretched fully, trying to work out the kinks from sleeping on the hard floor the night before, and headed into the kitchen. There was a woman cooking over his stove. She did not turn to acknowledge him, but continued humming a tune Sasuke did not recognize as he watched her move about the kitchen as if she knew it by heart.
He sat at the table and continued to watch her curiously. Who was she? Was she maybe the owner of the cat? Did she come and cook him breakfast every morning?
How should he feel about this?
Finally the woman turned to him, a sweet smile on her face as she bid him good morning in a soft and soothing voice. She served him, then served herself. Sitting across from him the woman stared in a way that was familiar, and something about her… Sasuke felt he knew her.
Why was she so familiar?
"Won't you eat?" She asked in her sweet voice and Sasuke's eyes widened. It couldn't…
"Hn." Sasuke finally turned to his food with some prompting from his stomach and ate slowly, continuing to stare at the female across from him.
"My name is Hinata." She blinked slowly, pale eyes glittering with an emotion Sasuke did not know.
"Why are you in my home?" Sasuke commanded rather than asked, his eyes hard. The woman was undeterred.
"You invited me in." Sasuke took a moment to think, his dark eyes boring into the woman's pale ones.
Realization hit him like a slap in the face.
"The cat." She smiled but said nothing, finally choosing to eat her meal. Sasuke shook his head slowly, not understanding fully. He stared at the woman, demanding an answer, but she did not look up.
"You shouldn't be here. Why are you here?" Sasuke finally asked.
Hinata finally looked up, a gentle smile on her face.
"Because you were lonely." Sasuke's eyes widened and he slammed a fist down against the table.
"You have no right!" Hinata said nothing, her eyes did not waver and her smile did not fade. Sasuke's rage grew, "I should have never let you in here!" His breathing grew heavy and his vision blurred, "I should have let you drown!"
Several minutes passed and Sasuke finally calmed down enough to see straight.
"I could go…" Hinata made a move to stand and waited for Sasuke to say anything.
He did not, only glared at her. Hinata smiled again, "Or I could stay." She sat back down. Sasuke grunted and continued to eat his meal, satisfied.
From that day on, Hinata lived with Sasuke.
And he was no longer lonely.
Author's Note: Vote in my poll! Please!
…Anyway, I got the idea for this story when I was doing some research for school and got sidetracked… I found an article about Bakeneko and it got me into thinking, "I could so turn this into a story!" Voila! Here it is! What did you think? I liked it, I liked writing it.
Thanks for reading!