Hello Simply Hopeless here with a new story for you. I just love putting out new stories and waiting to see if they float or sink. I haven't, as of late been putting out new stories to because lately a lot will 'story alert' and/or favorite it or something without reviewing it. And that's really sad, especially for a new story that I put a lot of thought into. But I'm giving this story a chance despite everything and hoping for the best. It's a Fruits Basket/Naruto crossover. I wanted to do one of those for some reason and I hope that this story takes well. Hopefully I'll receive reviews for this despite might luck lately and I do hope you enjoy.

Serendipity

Prologue

It was cold. It was so unbelievably cold that the creature, hidden within the interior of a cardboard box, wanted to curl in on himself. He shivered from ear tip to tail; his temporary home was nothing to the storm that raged outside. The box was leaking in back so that he had to curl up at the lip of the cardboard container, peering gloomily at the world in front of him.

He hated rain with a passion. It was just too wet and unnecessary. The annoying little sounds of 'pits and pats' as it dropped down insistently onto the world below drove away any thoughts of sleep. The angry creature screwed his eyes close and it wasn't enough. The plastering of his ears down onto his small head could not intercept the drips that seemed to taunt him. He'd slash at the sky if there were any hopes of it all stopping.

The wind just then shifted and the rain splattered lightly against his side even as he tucked his nose up against his side. 'It's his fault that I'm in this situation,' he thought to himself bitterly. He let out a muffled growl as the rain made the top of his temporary roof sag in a little more with water. His ears twitched with alertness before flattening back down at the sound. 'That blonde with those big, blue eyes…' he thought before letting out a face splitting yawn, 'Was he really a dream?'

He let out a disimpassioned growl to that idea not even noticing the person that was coming ever closer to him and his miserable state. No one had noticed him so far in these alien streets and if they did notice him they didn't care to acknowledge his existence for long. It was fine by him as he skulked through the dirty streets before coming to this alley and its box. The box, at that moment, had loosed out a sickening wet sound before caving in from the water weight.

But just as the creature yowled out at the fate of being drenched he found himself saved by hands that plucked him from his rundown home. They grasped him tightly but not unkindly even as he hissed and spat, ready to rend the air in shreds as claws popped out to comply.

"No need to be scared, I have you now," cooed a male voice even as the gentle man tried to calm down the frighten thing in his arms. He had wanted to draw the wretched creature into the safety of his coat so that it wouldn't become wet but was afraid that he'd receive a nasty scratch for all his kindness. "Well do you really want me to put you down on that, wet, dirty ground? Of course not, you'd rather come home with me where you can be warm, dry and properly fed," he reasoned giving the animal the two options and hoping it'd understand.

Garnet eyes zeroed on the rather kind face of the brunette even as he stopped his squirming long enough to measure the human up. He was not satisfied that he was being held at arm's length by his armpits but had to reason that his wild actions were the only cause for such treatment. He sighed inwardly and admitted to himself that he couldn't feel a stitch of animosity radiating from this person. And so seeing that the latter option was definitely more appealing than the first he let out a mew of acceptance.

"I'm glad that you see it my way," the brunette said warmly even as he drew the feline close to his body. 'It is a feline, right?' he almost questioned as he looked at the dirty little thing that was a brownish-orange color. But the purrs that soon ensued from deep within the cat's chest after being petted and drawn from the cold soon reassured him of that.

"We'll have to clean you, you know," the man began talking amiably even as he gently tucked him into his coat. He chuckled lightly as a furry head popped out to look inquisitively at the world around him. The brunette mused to himself that he must be an interesting sight indeed to a passerby. And if it wasn't for the fact that he was pretty sure that animals weren't allowed into convenient stores he would have popped inside to pick up a can of cat food or two for the poor thing.

'He'll have to make do with whatever I can scrounge up in the kitchen,' he sighed, wondering if he perhaps had some tuna or the like around. It had not been in the Chunnin's plan to pick up a stray, especially one that looked like he was crawling with fleas. But something about the cat drew him to him, as if he sensed that there was something different about the feline. And whether it was true or not was yet to be determined but for now he'd be satisfied by just getting out of the rain.

A FEW MINUTES LATER, SAFELY INSIDE IRUKA'S APARTMENT

The kindhearted Chunnin knew that before he could even think about feeding the cat he would have to wash him. 'It was a him, right?' he puzzled extracting the feline from his coat. He then lifted up the orange monstrosity to look between its legs before nodding thoughtfully. "Yep definitely a boy," he said then smiled apologetically, trying to bite back a laugh at the cat's pissed off face.

"I'm sorry I had to make sure," he explained before drawing the cat close to pet him. Iruka was pretty sure that if he even dared to put the cat down the thing might dart off somewhere and never be seen again for a week or so. So he coddled it by talking soft nonsense into a furry ear before walking it slowly to the bathroom.

'I'm pretty sure human shampoo is not good for a cat,' he puzzled out, brows furrowed as he slowly moved towards the bathroom. The kitchen was much closer but he was afraid that if he went there the cat would easily escape and hide. 'The bathroom is better,' he concluded, reaching carefully for a towel to dry the poor thing off before locking himself in the bathroom.

He gently set the cat now, noticing vaguely how the feline had tensed as soon as the door was locked. And as soon as he put him down the cat quickly hid behind the toilet, slowly peeking it's head out cautiously to mew pitifully.

'The cat is smart,' Iruka thought sadly even as he ventured over to sink to turn it on. His fingers darted in occasionally to test the temperature before he adjusted it and prepared to reach for the trembling creature. 'He's going to scratch me I just know it,' he thought even as he squatted down and crooked a few fingers towards the kitty.

"Come here little one. Everything is going to be okay. I promise I won't hurt you and soon you'll be nice and warm and fed," he coaxed soothingly. He waited with bated breath as the feline slowly drew towards him, occasionally looking up at the Chunnin with a look of doubt. 'How human of him…' Iruka thought in wonder.

He allowed the cat to bump its head against his head, rubbing the cat's ear before slowly drawing the cat towards his body. "I'm doing this for your own good," Iruka murmured softly into a lone ear before placing the now wiggling creature into the sink. He winced as the cat yowled and lashed at him. His grip never tightening too much as he gently forced the cat to stay while scooping up the streaming water and pouring it over the cats fur.

"Stop moving like that or you'll fall out," he scolded the cat lightly before starting to rub the water into its fur in hopes of getting most of the dirt out. But the cat seemed not to care to listen and began to squirm all the more harder. At one point Iruka was afraid the poor thing would wiggle free and land head first against the tile floor but he just barely managed to push the poor thing back in, water sloshing everywhere.

The usually patient brunette sighed in frustration and prayed to Kami to give him strength as he continued to wash the shivering, mewing cat that was starting to look more like a drowned rat by the minute.

A FEW MINUTES LATER WITH A CLEANER, DRYER CAT

"You have such a nice, orange coat, a very unusual and vibrant color though I'm sure Naruto would appreciate it. You haven't met him yet, he's sort of like my surrogate son and hopefully you two will get along," Iruka mused even as he absently petted the cat.

Iruka was pleased that he somehow managed to get the cat cleaned and dried. Though he couldn't help a small laugh as the poor thing did a once over with his tongue to make sure that he was thoroughly clean. The Academy teacher couldn't keep his eyes off the beautiful creature having never seen a color quite like that on a cat. 'He's beautiful now that he's all cleaned up.'

"I wonder what I should call you," Iruka said aloud for the cat's benefit is hoping the feline would give him a suggestion or two.

'My name is Kyo,' mumbled the cat lifting up his head to eye his new owner moodily before going back to lap at the milk. He was still displeased that he had been tricked into the bathroom. He should have known something was up as soon as he entered that white, tiled room but his senses had been dulled by the feel of a hand petting him. 'I'm such an idiot…'

"Well you know I can't understand catonese. Get it Cantonese, catonese," Iruka chuckled at his own lame joke before waving it off when his new cat only offered him an irritated look. "Well they can't all be winners but maybe I should name you Mr. Carrot," the Chunnin supplied before waving any protest his pet might make. "It suits you so it's decided."

Kyo glared at the brunette in front him before making a point to look away and clean his front paw again. He'd dismissed the matter for now seeing as there was no way to tell him his proper name. His paw swept across his face before he began the ritual of cleansing himself with his sandpaper tongue; he wondered how he ended up in this odd place in the first place. 'No, I'm not talking about this man's house but this village in particular. I was in Tokyo, Japan just yesterday and when I woke up I somehow landed here, in the pouring rain,' he thought in puzzlement.

He knew that something important must have happened to land him in this weird place but every time he tried to think about his life before he met Iruka his head began to hurt. His desperation to recollect was only interrupted by the sudden tiredness that seemed to fog his brain.

Kyo yawned, a head splitting yawn, front paws stretched forward and rump in the air before he looked expectantly at Iruka to show him the bed. He felt that that was the least the Chunnin could do for tricking him. So he allowed himself to be picked up as soon as the brunette got the suggestion before he found himself taken into a bedroom.

"You can sleep with me if you'd like, though you might prefer your own bed, hmm?" Iruka questioned the cat as if it was one of the most natural things to do. He absently petted the top of the cat's head with his free hand before flicking on the lights. "You can sleep at the foot of the bed," the Academy Teacher suggested even as he got ready to set down the feline.

But as soon as Kyo was let down the cat decided to head towards the front. He stretched more on the way, first a foreleg and than a hind leg before he made his way towards the pillows. He turned his furry head to make sure that the human wouldn't reach for him before he chose a pillow that had dislodged itself from the others. He then settled down in the middle of it, curling up on himself, his head tucked to his side, allowing himself to quickly fall into oblivious sleep.

A WEEK LATER

It had been a week since the somewhat voluntary co-existence between the two had begun. Kyo, or Mr. Carrot, as he was better known as had been getting along so far with his new roommate. He politely walked all over the Chunnin's chest when he was ready to wake up the human to be fed in the morning. And he made sure to clean his plate and use the new litter box bought soon after his arrival.

They for the most part left each other alone. Iruka went out most of the time to do his job or whatever. And Kyo being a curious little thing first explored every nook and cranny of the apartment before getting permission to explore the neighborhood that he now lived in. He had quickly asserted his dominance over the neighboring cats, getting into an occasionally nasty fight to show who was boss before returning back home for dinner.

He would lick his wounds, thinking over his newest victory while waiting patiently for his human to return home. They made small talk after dinner, coming together to curl up on the couch to watch a bit of television. Then at exactly 10:00 they would retire to bed in order to be reenergized for the next day.

Kyo thought that they worked well together and had thought he couldn't have landed a better owner even if he had tried. And except for that mishap on Thursday when a slightly tipsy brunette had stumbled into the house late last night with a silver haired male attached to his lips, nearly tripping him up in their rush to the bedroom, everything was copacetic. That was until today.

Kyo had by now expected to have the house to himself during the afternoons that was until his human arrived for lunch. But before that happened he had designated that time to take a nice, catnap. And he had been peacefully drowsing on top of the refrigerator; ready to shift and go back to sleep when something yellow and orange came into his peripheral view.

The cat would have been all but inclined to ignore whatever 'it' was if it wasn't for the fact that it was making so much noise. A sleepy garnet eye opened as it peered down onto the top of blonde locks as the person came towards him and his fridge.

Kyo let out a warning hiss but the sound was eclipsed by the excited babble from the irritating stranger. 'What does he think he's doing disturbing my slumber?' he thought bitterly. It had taken the feline forever to figure out how to navigate up the highest piece of furniture in the small apartment which soon became his quiet place. Even his owner Iruka knew that it was not a wise idea to disturb him during naptime if he wanted to survive the day without injury from at least him.

So when the loud monstrosity came even closer, obviously the cat felt it was in his right to retaliate. He unfurled from his comfortable ball before he leaned forward and knocked over a box of cereal to land on the blonde's head 'Back off!' he yowled out. He watched as the funny human hopped back, suddenly alert as he looked down at the spilled Cheerios before glancing up at the angered cat. And that's when Kyo was suddenly surprised by a pair of confused blue.

"Naruto watch out, you might disturb Mr. Carrot," Iruka seemed to call out from somewhere in the apartment at exactly that moment. The brunette then walked in, his arms full of groceries only to stop when he saw his cat and his surrogate son having a staring contest; both seemingly shocked to see the other.

"So he's Mr. Carrot?" Naruto asked after a few seconds, breaking eye contact to look at the Chunnin.

"Yeah, that's Mr. Ca—" Iruka began but was unable to finish as Kyo pounced on Naruto, yowling and scratching all the way down. "Hey stop that!" the brunette shouted, dropping his things hastily, ready to pull the two apart.

"Well it's not me who started it… I don't think so anyway," Naruto grumbled even as he tried to draw the furious feline away from him. He stumbled back, until he had finally fell on his ass, hoping that Iruka would pull him off. "Don't soothe it, spritz it or something," howled out Naruto bewildered and wondering if it was possible to hit a cat.

'You, it's you who did this to me!' hissed Kyo claws slicing at any vulnerable spot given to him while clenching tightly so as not to fall off the poor blonde as they tumbled down. And it was just when the desperate Iruka had turned to grab and dump a glass of water over the two that a loud popping sound was heard. A poof of orange smoke soon surrounded the cat and the blonde before it slowly dissipated revealing an angry orange haired teenager straddling the blonde.

Angry garnet glared down at the injured blonde, lips drawn back in a snarl and a hand poised to scratch again. Almost completely oblivious to the fact that he was once again back in his human form or that he was naked as the day he was born. Almost… until he felt a kunai pressed against his neck and a whispered threat breathed into his ear by the silver haired Jounin from last night.

"Who the hell are you and why shouldn't I kill you right now?"

To Be Continued…

A/N: Okay first off this takes place a year or two after the time skip in Naruto. Except Naruto never manages to find Sasuke and has been super depressed because of it.

Also Kyo is Kyo Sohma from an anime called Fruits Basket for those who do not know. He is cursed by the spirit of an avenging cat and when he is hugged by the opposite sex or is terribly weak he'll turn into an orange cat. When he transforms back in the anime/manga he comes back sans the close. But I'll give more on the Fruits Basket guy and how he ended up in the Naruto world if this story lasts. So hopefully there will be people willing to comment on this story so it well. Anyway until next time, Simply.