A/N- So. I'm back from the dead. As you can see I'm back with a new version of this story because I cringe at my writing style from two years ago. And I'm also no longer InfinitelySamanthaInsxnity but SajaWrites. New pen name for a new writer is all. I don't think I'll take down the version from 2 years ago but I do intend on finishing this time around. For my returning family (if there are any) welcome home. For my sweet little newcomers, welcome to the madhouse.
Disclaimer- I don't claim to own the Akatsuki or any other character of Kishimoto's that may come up. Nat, Lynn, and Aspen however are my OC's. They are still undeveloped but mommy (me) loves them very much. And mommy (still me) loves her readers and reviewers too. Don't worry. When I refer to myself as mommy I tend to refer to myself in 3rd person. Even though I'm more than likely younger than the majority of you lot.
Chapter 1- Bizarre Misfits
Aspen Claire's POV
I'm currently sprawling across the bench in the backroom of the Hot Topic I work at. I am fucking tired damn it. Thank whoever is watching over me that my shift is O-V-E-R, over. Why am I working here again?
Oh yeah, I like money.
"Aspen?" A loud, happy, yet curious voice calls into the backroom. "I know you're in here. You're shift is just ending, so there's literally no way you've left already."
"You're not staff, why are you back here?" I poke my head over the back of the bench and look towards the door and towards the direction the familiar voice came from.
As I suspected, the familiar voice belongs to one of my two closest friends, Lynette Gould. Lynn stood there in all of her beautiful glory. Five feet and seven inches (or model height, as I refer to it as), dirty blonde hair, almost fluorescent green eyes, and a blinding smile. She looks like she belongs in a Summer issue of a Hollister magazine wearing a bikini while standing next to some ripped guy in board shorts or something.
Natalia West was following close behind her and she walks in like she owns the place, clocks me out, drags me out of the backroom, and then out of the store while yelling "Au Revoir" to my boss. Who, by the way, didn't even react to me being kidnapped because it happens so often.
The second we left Lynn starts to excitedly blabber a million miles a minute, "Oh my God, Aspen! They are literally so cute. Just wait till you see them! You'll fall in love right away. I mean thank you so, so much for agreeing to take care of them. Sure, they're a little odd looking but I love them so much. A few of them are kinda feisty but who cares! They're literally a-freaking-dorable! Aspen-"
"What the hell are you talking about?" I cut her off. It was better to cut Lynn off early on when her rants confused you. The further she goes, the more lost you inevitably become.
"The kittens!" She yells excitedly.
"What kittens?" I stare at her like she's suddenly grown a second head. Her face falls and I immediately feel a knot forming in the pit of my stomach.
"Lynn… I kind of forgot to ask her…" Nat trails off nervously.
"Wait. You didn't ask her?" Lynn turns her kicked puppy look onto Nat.
"Uhm, well you see…" Nat struggles to formulate a proper response and Lynn's sadness quickly turns into almost uncontrollable anger.
"How could you have possibly forgotten something so IMPORTANT?" Lynn starts to rage and it lasts our entire ten minute walk back to the apartment that Lynn and Nat have been sharing for six months.
Due to the fact that Lynn shows no signs of stopping her tirade, I take it upon myself to unlock the door with a set of keys I had copied after stealing Nats out of her pocket one day.
Sitting in the middle of their well furnished living room was a box.
I cautiously walked over and prodded at the cover.
"Mrreowwwww!"
I took a step away and my nose crinkled in disgust. This must be the box of monsters.
"Can you please take care of them Aspen? We can't have multiple pets in the apartment!" Lynn ceases in her yelling upon hearing the kittens; her kicked puppy look returns full force and aimed at me.
"C'mon. You know you want to." Nat smiles mock-innocently.
Bullshit. Nat hadn't forgotten. She's just been well aware that there's no way in heaven or hell that I can say no to Lynn like I can to her.
"Lynn, I'm really sorry but I can't."
"But whyyyyy!?" Lynn drops to her knees, laces her fingers together in front of her like she's praying, and amps up her puppy dog pout.
I winced, "I'm allergic Lynn, I don't know if I can do it."
"You act like they're going to kill you." Nat laughs.
My sympathetic look turns into a dark glare as my gaze lands on Nat, "They probably will. There's TEN kittens in this box. You want them so let them live with you." I snarl. They know that asides from being allergic, I hate cats.
"But the landlord of our apartment doesn't allow more than one pet! There's ten!" Lynn starts to cry and I wince.
I glare at Nat again when she snickers. She knows just as well as I do that my will to say no is wearing thin.
"Oh, won't you please?" Nat asks sarcastically.
"PLEASE!" Lynn grabs ahold of my shoulders.
"Fine, fine. I'll take the devil incarnates." I sigh in defeat. If only I didn't owe these girls my life, I could turn down the stupid box of demons.
"HOORAY!" Lynn wraps me up in hug and I reluctantly wrap my right arm around her.
"Natalia West, I swear to god," I smack her with my free hand when she starts to laugh at my misfortune. Damn it all to Hell. If I didn't care so much about these girls, I'd damn them to hell too. And they can take these freaking cats with them.
I left their apartment feeling rather defeated. I really need to work on saying no to my blonde friend. I set the box gently down on the kitchen table and sighed again. As much as I hate cats, I hate animal cruelty more.
Wandering down the hallway, I enter the main bathroom to grab my allergy pills. I'm probably going to need a lot more these because of those little shits.
I walk back into the living room and stare at the box on my living room table.
"Well fuck." I mutter out loud.
I cautiously move towards the box and stare for a little bit longer. C'mon Aspen, they're just tiny, little kittens. They probably can't actually kill you.
I pulled the first kitten I can reach out of the box. Even I could admit that he is kinda cute. At first glance it's a black tabby that looked like its face had been dipped in orange paint with black lollipop-like swirls on his face. One ear is orange and the other ear is black. The poor thing has one of its eyes shut like he's winking. A cat fight maybe? The other eye is black and I blinked a little when I thought I saw it flash red. The cat quickly starts to zigzag around the table top. Much like a little child running around a park.
"Sugar." I mutter.
The kitten freezes and stops to stare at me curiously.
"Sugar. That's your new name. I know it's not very masculine but your facial coloring reminds me of a lollipop and you remind me of a young child who's had too much sugar." I explain to the kitten.
I giggle as Sugar makes a purring noise of what I think is contentment and then he resumes zigzagging across the table. I freeze mid-giggle.
I. Fucking. Giggled. What the hell? Jashin or Kami or God save my poor soul. I hadn't giggled for maybe eleven years. And to start again over a small kitten?
I sigh in resignation and simply reach for the next kitten. Yelping in pain, I drop what has to be Satan's spawn on the table next to Sugar. I guess there has to be at least one overly-feisty kitten in the mix.
First, I inspect my right hand that is now littered in tiger stripes that are adorned with crimson liquid dots at the surface. Then, I glare at the silver kitten with violet eyes that I'd just pulled out of the box. He has a grey Jashin amulet hanging around his neck and his fur seems to be slicked back over his head.
"I'm allergic to cats motherfucker. If I end up dead, you all end up on the streets because the other two can't keep more than one of you in their apartment. That's the only reason why you're here." As I glare, I can hear the other kittens yelping and whining. The silver cat has the nerve to look proud of himself. That little shit!
"Chill, I just took some allergy pills." I mutter and the whimpering stops. I stand up and move back to the bathroom to clean off the cut and bandage it.
"I should name you Fucker. Or Satan." I tell him upon returning, as I unceremoniously drop myself onto the floor in front of the table. I drop myself back where I had been before I got up to clean the cuts. There are noises of kitten like laughter from some of the other kittens still in the box.
"Jashin instead though, because of your amulet." The stupid kitten gives me a feral grin and moves himself to the far end of the table. As far away from me, Sugar, and the box of kittens on the top left corner of my six by five living room table.
I make a grab for the next kitten and silently pray to whoever will listen that this kitten doesn't maul my hand further.
Instead of getting further injuries, out comes a gorgeous navy kitten with a white origami flower tucked behind her ear. A dark spot that could emulate a piercing is below her bottom lip. I briefly wonder if cats even have lips. My thoughts return to the cat herself and realize that this must be the sole female feline Lynn was referring to. The poor thing, having to put up with nine males. I can't even handle that many people directly all at once in a personal situation unless it's forced at school.
She sits on her haunches and looks up at me from the table expectantly.
"Tenshi. It means angel in Japanese. You deserve it because it definitely takes an angel or a saint to deal with nine freaking males on the regular." She nuzzles my right hand, which lies on the table and I smile. I kinda like her. She has gorgeous amber eyes. I can tell that this particular kitten is going to quite possibly my saviour when dealing with the others. Tenshi jumps into my lap and once she gets comfortable, I hesitantly make a grab for my next new pet.
I quickly realize that I'm going to need both of my hands for him. I stare at the large blue kitten with gill like markings on his face and sharp, shark-like teeth filling his mouth. He has these beady, black eyes that look like they're following your every move. Lynn wasn't kidding when she said some of these kittens were rather odd.
"Same. It means shark in Japanese. Since you kinda remind me of a shark." I watch as he traipses awkwardly across the table, almost like he isn't used to walking on four legs.
I stare at him curiously for a few seconds but then shake myself out of it and reach for my next victim- I mean kitten.
Out comes a bright red kitten, quite a bit smaller than my kitten-shark. Not an orange tabby. I mean bright, Ariana Grande's Victorious character "Cat" red. God damn. I love him anyway. He looks as bored as I always do. On his chest, the kanji for scorpion marks over his heart and these beautiful hazel eyes stare apathetically back me.
"Scorpion. Due to the kanji marking on your chest." It seems like a literal sign to me. I tend not to ignore signs when they're given to me.
The next kitten I pull out has the be the weirdest colored … kitten, that I have ever seen in my entire sixteen years of living. He's split exactly in half. White on the right side of his body and black on the left. A tuft of green fur rests on top of his head. Yellow eyes and sharp teeth stare back at me.
"Yin-Yang. You're quite literally split in two and there is conflict in your eyes. BPD maybe?" I decide, speaking aloud to the kitten. He moves to where Sugar has finally settled himself and plops down near him, almost as if to keep an eye on him.
The next kitten, like Same, also requires both of my hands to be pulled out of the box. It's a brown tabby cat that I instantly feel bad for. The large kitten has stitches that seem to be holding the kitten together everywhere. Who the hell does this to their freaking pet!? I hate cats but I don't hate them to the point at which I'd abuse them! The hate simply stems from the allergic reactions from certain kittens! (Jashin also known as the Satan Fucker, as well as many other crabby kitties I have met in my lifetime) The kitten doesn't seem to like being touched, more than likely from lack of trust. So I immediately set him down on the table for comfort and he sets himself down next to Jashin and plays with my wallet that'd been lying on the table. The pupils of his eyes are a lovely green. But his eyes are oddly striking because the cornea is an angry, bloodshot red. And I don't mean veins. I mean pure red. He looks up at me expectantly holding a few dollar bills in between his paws. I don't worry about him clawing them though because it's almost as if he understands their value.
"I want to name you Stitches but I feel like that might be cruel."
I receive no visible response from the kitten.
"You seem to like money, I'll name you Yen, which is the Japanese currency. I seem to be naming most of you in Japanese." This gets me a reaction and he seems to grin. Which on this particular kitten is kind of terrifying.
The next kitten isn't the biggest but he's not small either. He's a ginger tabby with the coolest fucking eyes ever. They're like the Rinnegan that Pein from Naruto Shippuden has. Holy crap man. He has piercing like markings all over his face also much like Pein.
"Meowwwww!" My head snaps away from the Pein kitty as Sugar yelps and moves away from Jashin. That fucker just jumped on one of my favorite kittens! (Despite the fact that I hadn't even made it through the entire box yet.) The other kittens both inside and outside the box begin to riot. They start yelping and meowing and making pained noises and at first, I don't know how to react.
Before I can even try to react the kitten I had just pulled out of the box loudly makes a noise that sounds almost like a command. Immediately the kittens cease to make noises and they freeze before relaxing. The kitten begins to reprimand Jashin but I cut him off.
"Leader. Because you clearly have more control over this bunch than I do." He nods his head and jumps off the table and next to me. He settles himself close to my leg and close to Tenshi. It's at this point that I realize that they all seem to be partnered up.
Sugar and Yin-Yang.
Yen and Jashin.
Tenshi and Leader.
Which leaves Same and Scorpion partnerless. For now. I have two more kittens to go. Speaking of which, right before I pull out the next kitten Tenshi climbs out of my lap and abandons me in favor of being next to Leader. They jump back on the table and seem to overlook everyone. Same jumps off the table and rests his head on my leg.
The second to last kitten has been declared my favorite. Maybe the last one. And also asides from Tenshi. My favorite male kitten. There we go. He's a beautiful black kitten with onyx eyes and he possesses a calm that I never will. His gaze is calculating and he seems to be one of the normal kittens of the bunch. I blink when I see his eyes flash red. Just as I had with Sugar, I mark it off as a trick of the light. I'm probably just tired considering it's almost ten in the evening after all.
"Noir. It means black in French. Plus I like the word." I pick up the kitten and set him in my lap. I begin to pet his fur, much like how I treated Tenshi before she picked Leader over me. Tch.
I feel more than hear the purr that goes through his body from my ministrations. The only reason I can tell is because my hand is resting on his head. But I highly doubt that it was heard by any of the others. It's not like they seem to be paying him any mind anyway.
Finally, the last but not least. I'm freaking tired.
He's a honey blonde kitten with shocking blue eyes. He has a tuft of fur over his left eye. And he has a scar on his chest. Fucking barbie. But I'm not naming him that. I'm mean but I'm not cruel. He scampers to the end of the table to stare out my window. I glance out the window and realize what's caught their attention. Some of the other kittens wander over to watch too.
"Don't mind the fireworks, it's July 1st so this Saturday, July 4th, is Independence Day for the United States. Also known as a national holiday here in the states. My neighbors are fucking crazy anyways. That will probably go on for another two hours, midnight or not. The kittens all moved back to their original places except Scorpion who plops himself down next to the blondie who is still watching, enraptured by the fireworks.
"Katsu!" I suddenly yell, accidentally terrifying all of the kittens as they all jump, yelp a little, and look around. They act like they thought the fireworks were INSIDE my house and not outside in my neighbor's yard.
They all turn wide-eyed to stare at me.
"Blondie's name is Katsu. Because art is a fucking bang, yeah." I explain using one of my favorite English translations of Deidara of the Akatsuki's verbal tick. Some of the kittens conversed and others just stared at me a little oddly.
"You all sure are a ragtag team." I comment, observing the ten completely odd and completely different kittens. They don't seem like they'd fit together, yet they do.
They all turned to stare at me.
"It's okay… Just like you guys; Nat and Lynn, the two girls who found you…" I tried to think of the best way to elaborate.
"I'm a bizarre misfit too."
Update: August 26, 2017
A/N Alright, there's the re-vamped Chapter 1. I jumped right in because I figured the prologue was redundant and quite frankly, useless and unnecessary. Review to let me know how I did, if you'd be so inclined. Sorry for any mistakes, I'm currently on a flight home from my final week of summer break.
Projected Chapter Word Count: 3000
Actual Chapter Word Count: 3116
Total Story Word Count: 3116