The Cat's Curse
"Well, it is a shame" sighed an old lady petting the soft fur of a kitten in her lap, the little one gave a soft yawn as the wise grey eyes of the woman stared an a crystal ball in front of her "She could had been the perfect match for that stubborn Uchiha boy" the cat jumped as she inched closer to better look at the picture.
A young woman, bright pink hair, settled between two men, a blond, loud one, the kyubi jinchuriki if her old mind was not mistaken, and a raven haired Uchiha, the last of his kind. She was laughing carefree as she took another sip at her cup of sake, unaware of the fact that she was being observed by the ancient Nekobaa herself. The old woman let out an exasperated noise similar to a hiss, she was too old to play matchmaker, the last time she did something similar was to open the eyes of that boulder-head Fugaku to confess to her sweet grand niece Mikoto-chan, but things were different now. But still, she'll be damned if she let the last of the Uchiha flick out of existence without trying, is the least she could do for so many years of partnership.
The old woman smirked through her wrinkled face, oh she knew exactly the trick to make any man fell prey to a pretty woman, no one has been able to refuse the pull of this jutsu until now, and even if the Uchiha boy was a stern and inflexible as the last time she saw him, well at least the show would be fun to watch.
"Please tell me this is not happening " groaned Tsunade as she pinched the bridge of her nose in a attempt to not break anything, Shizune was holding TonTon in her arms trying not to let out either a whimper or a laugh at the situation.
In front of the Hokage desk, the entire infamous Team 7 was sulking in front of her, well at least Naruto, Sasuke had his eternal frown and Kakashi had his face buried in one of the Icha Icha tomes, giggling about something he read. Her precious student, the successor of her byakugō, her pride and joy, Sakura Haruno was now sitting in front of the desk in the form of a peach colored mewling kitten. No, scratch that, a high pitch screaming kitten who looked as angry as if she were human.
"Spit it out, what happened?" she made a wince as she took out the bottle of sake from her not so secret cabinet, in front of her Naruto was rambling and moving his arms in an attempt to explain, the Uchiha just shrugged and, after her not so subtle raise of her eyebrow, Kakashi put the book down " We were having lunch, and then she turned into a cat, tried to gouge Sasuke eyes out and, after we - he coughed not looking at Sakura- subdue her, we came here"
The blonde reclined back in her chair and made a gesture to urge Sakura to approach, the girl promptly compelled, not without giving a nasty glare to her team "Sakura-chan don't give us that look! We did not turn you into a cat, I swear ttebayo! " whined Naruto " At least I didn't! " he added side eyeing his best friend.
"Why would I turn Sakura in a cat you dobe?" countered Sasuke with an annoying sigh, at her mention from the voice of the Uchiha, Sakura spine arched and her fur stood in point with a low growl. Tsunade made a soothing noise and petted her back until she relaxed, then she looked at Sasuke with could only be described with a shit eating grin "Actually, this might be your fault , not directly though, but still you're and indirect responsable "
Naruto did not miss a beat to tease and made fun of the dark haired man, claiming "in how much trouble he was" the other one just looked plain angry and confused. Kakashi's bored eyes inspected Tsunade's amusement while with a strong grip she was stopping Sakura of ripping Sasuke's throat of with her new razor blade claws "You seen very relaxed at this, Hokage-sama"
She batted her hand dismissively at his direction "Oh cut the Hokage crap Kakashi, you'll took the title away from me in a couple of weeks " she took a sip from her sake, petting Sakura's fur " And yes, this situation isn't as terrible as it seems " she half grinned through another sip of her drink " It's more like the failed attempt of an old friend to help the Uchiha, either that of she felt the need of a good laugh at our expenses, either way, this seems like mission for you three idiots"
"What did ya mean granny? What kinda mission?" well, obviously the knucklehead blond would pick up the word mission while wrestling Sasuke in the middle of her office, thank the sages she won't have to put up with this anymore. She looked at the stern boy by his side. "Did the name Nekobaa rings any bells to you?"
The last Uchiha did not bother to hide a wince and a groan this time "Why does that old hag want anything to do with Sakura?"
"That's not important, what does matters is that you go to her and convince her to retire the jutsu from her" immediately Tsunade had her commanding voice, the one that put any shinobi spine straight in a second " You and Naruto would go to her place, I don't trust you capable of convincing her by yourself , that's why I'm sending you two together , I don't want my pupil to turn into a cat forever, he can talk to her into giving in, if there's anyone that can do that is Naruto"
"Shall I go with them Hokage-sama?" muttered the Copy Ninja with his eyes glued once again to his beloved book, absolutely sure he would be assigned to be their captain.
"Actually, you'll be staying here, taking care of Sakura" before he had a chance to argue she added "She won't be in this form for so long, but we have a representative from the Daimyo coming to check on our military state and I can't have my best kunoichi walking around looking like…" she paused, grimacing while looking at Sakura " Well, you'll see for yourself soon, she won't leave the confinement of your apartment until she's back to normal"
"Why it has to be my apartment?" Kakashi anything but whined at the prospect of a cat in his house, even if it was more or less his student inside.
Tsunade crossed her arms, already exasperated with Kakashi's attitude "Because Sakura's shares an apartment with Ino, and I don't want anyone getting wind of this issue" she massaged her temples at the dumbfounded look of the three males in front of her "You guys know nothing about her don't you?"
"Oi granny don't be mean, I knew she didn't live with her parents anymore, but she didn't tell me that she moved with Ino!" Naruto promptly jumped to defend himself before looking at Sakura with pleading eyes "Sakura-chan why you didn't told us?"
The kitten shrugged as she would do as a human just before giving a death glare with her viridian eyes" I did, but you didn't pay attention to me because you were fighting over something stupid with Sasuke, and Kakashi was already 4 hours late to our meeting that day, he wouldn't possibly knew, honestly, I'm surrounded by a bunch of morons, even after the war you guys haven't matured one bit"
The three shinobi had the decency to look half ashamed as Tsunade let out a boisterous laugh "What happened to you three? Cat's got your tongue? " then she returned her gaze at her transformed pupil "Good to see that the effects are wearing quickly"
The raven haired man grunted in annoyance as he side eyed Sakura "Why is she more angry than usual? She attacked me earlier when she just transformed". Naruto quickly nodded behind him "Yeah yeah! She didn't even call teme 'Sasuke-kun' or called Kakashi-sensei right now !"
"It's part of the jutsu effect, the parts of her personality that reflect those of a cat would be enhanced during it's duration" she scratched her protege behind her fuzzy ears, she letting out a pleasant purr "Cats are very sincere animals, if they don't like you they'll let you know one way or another, in this case, this removes Sakura's filters, apparently" her honey eyes zeroed in Sasuke "Cats also have a great memory, they'll remember those who harm them, maybe that's why her first reaction after seeing you was defend herself"
There was a sudden but very awkward silence in the room, but Tsunade didn't acknowledge it, if the Uchiha felt bad and guilty then good for it, but she clapped her hands promptly to dissipate it, she had a village to run and a team to send away.
"Seeing this facts, Naruto and Sasuke would go searching for Nekobaa to dispel the jutsu, you have two weeks before the effects of it turn extremely unpleasant for everyone" she remarked the last part giving a knowing look at Sakura and then Kakashi " Kakashi, you would be in charge of taking care of my student, she cannot leave the area of your apartment until the effects are completely gone, use whatever method necessary, I am being clear?"
The four of them nodded in agreement, and swiftly parted their separate ways. Once again alone with Shizune, Tsunade turned to gaze out of the window, in which the Copy Nin could be seen walking the street with a ball of pink fur up his neck, she let out a low snicker.
"Are you sure is wise to let Sakura with male company during this time? " the brunette asked a little bit concerned. The blonde just sat again with a dismissive bat of her hand and a huge smirk on her face " I don't know if it's wise, but I'm sure it's gonna be really amusing, Shizune"
"Ma, Sakura-chan, could you stop doing that? It feels weird" Kakashi was walking home, Tsunade made very clear that Sakura could not be seen nor could be out his home during this weird jutsu, and to avoid uncomfortable stares at a pink cat following him, his ex student was now perched at the nape of his neck, under the flask jacket, her little paws lightly scratching his shirt, kneading it "You're gonna ruin my clothes" he half moaned feigning sadness.
"I'm just trying to find a comfortable position you big baby" well, apparently her personality was intact, besides being a cat, it was the same retort he could expect from Sakura "Besides is not like your uniforms are intact, just yesterday I saw you walking with a big hole in your.. "
"Thank you for reminding me to buy new clothes Sakura, always caring for your old sensei" he interrupted quickly, and he had thought nobody saw the result of Guy's most recent competition "Why didn't you told me? "
She shrugged with a happy purr, obviously having fun messing with him "What can I say? Is not every day that you catch the Great Copy Ninja flashing his Icha Icha underwear to the village"
He grunted burying his face deeper in his book " Remember those times when you used to respect me?"
"Oh yeah, those 5 seconds before that eraser hit your head were truly memorable"
"I'm not gonna stand here being mocked by a thing that weighs less than my kunai holder" he chastised deciding not to pay attention, more because people were staring at him talking alone than being really hurted, Sakura giggled and fell silent, her low purring being the only sound all the way home.
One inside the apartment, Sakura jumped from his back, landing perfectly in front of the coffee table in the living room, her small pink head tilted to the side eyeing him. Kakashi did the same "What now? Should I fetch you some yarn to play?" he teased with an eye crease, Sakura just scoffed, an unusual cute sound now that she was a kitten and headed straight to his kitchen "Don't be silly, I'm gonna do the same thing I do when I come here"
He groaned inwardly, preparing himself for the scold. Sakura managed to come to his home to make sure he had actual food in his fridge and not just some cheap take out. He might be low on vegetables, and probably meat, and dairy. And perhaps he was fucked. Kakashi was already picturing how to calm her when he found his ex student, sitting in front of the fridge, her tail moving furiously in her back. He grinned wide behind his mask.
"What's the matter Sakura-chan" he lowered himself, almost squatting, to be at her level. He had the common sense to hide his amusement at her predicament. She gave him a nasty glare from the side, her voice low with a threatening growl, well threatening to anyone besides him "Open the door Kakashi" she ordered.
The silver haired man stood up and walked to his sofa before throwing himself on top of it "Look, I could give in and open the door, but we both know what's in there" more like the lack of it he heard her grunt " or I could summon Pakkun and the boys to go buy some groceries"
Sakura seemed to ponder his answers but after a couple of second she nodded with a sigh "Well there's no use to nag you if you don't even feel bad about it" in a swift movement she jumped onto his lap "Call them, but make sure they don't try to eat me"
In a blink three dogs puffed into existence in his living room, Pakkun, Shiba, and Bisuke. The grumpy pug did the dog equivalent to raise an eyebrow as soon as he noticed the pink fur ball on him.
"Hope you don't intend to replace us with that Boss, cats don't suit you" he deadpanned scratching his ear, while the other two sniffed thoroughly at Sakura, quickly recognizing her chakra signature.
"Good to see you too Pakk" grumbled the pinkette while Shiba muzzled her and Bisuke was trying to doggy kiss her "Stop you two! You gotta get me all wet!"
"If you felt you needed a makeover there was no need to go to such extremes girlie" teased the pug "Yet I have to admit that the tail and ears suit you" the other two just quipped that Sakura was still the cutest while they fawned over her.
Kakashi smiled under his mask, all his ninken liked his ex students, but Bisuke and Shiba loved Sakura the most, mostly because of an overdose of belly rubs and jerky treats, even Pakkun was more willing to listen to Sakura than anyone else in Team 7, except him of course. They certainly looked very cute, his battle roughed canine summons and his little pink kunoichi kitten. He allowed himself to enjoy the moment before catching the boys attention with a soft cough.
"You can play with her later" the droopy puppy eyes almost made him regret interrupting, almost "As you can see Sakura was put under some sort of weird jutsu, and I need to keep an eye on her, Shiba and Bisuke will go buy some food, Pakkun, I'll need you to sneak in her apartment and grab some of her stuff" he averted his gaze to her to catch Sakura playing with the puff of hair in Shiba's head, if cats could blush he was sure she would be cherry red judging by the panicked embarrassment in her eyes, he gave her a soft eye crease "Anything specific you'll need?"
"Umm clothes, like t-shirts and pants, I only have a couple of spares here " she casted her eyes down, looking at everything but them, before clearing her throat " Underwear and, maybe some medical books? I was supposed to perform some surgeries next week but apparently that's impossible now" she lamented while flexing her new toe beans "But I guess it won't hurt to keep reading the procedure for the future"
The ninken nodded "We got you girl, we'll be back soon Boss" said Pakkun before puffin out of existence. As soon as they were gone, Kakashi stretched all over the length of the couch, startling Sakura.
"Hey! A warning next time? I was sitting there" she protested looking at him as angry as a cat could look, he couldn't take her seriously like that, so he just shrugged with a half grin "Oh you know Sakura-chan, old people like me need to accommodate whenever we can or our backs will suffer so much, and you were sitting on this old man legs so I need a rest" one of his usual answers will do, so he decided it was time to pick up his disturbed reading and took out Icha Icha Tactics from his pocket.
He half expected for her to scoff and retreat to some part of his home, she always disliked his habit of reading Jiraya's work at all times and usually found some way to let herself comfortable without disturbing him. This time he felt her jump on top of his chest, angry peridot eyes staring right at him, with a scrunched little nose too. He could had blushed, she was being awfully adorable lately, he could totally picture that same expression with her usual human face, pouty lips and all.
"You are supposed to take care of me, not read filthy things while I'm here!" the pinkette stammered at him, her fuzzy paws kneading his chest as stating a claim on him. He sighed and brought a hand up to pet the back of her head, almost instantly she sagged against him, purring low, albeit with a tiny frown "Stop doubting your old sensei so much, I'm pretty sure I could keep an eye on you and read Icha Icha, you Naruto and Sasuke survived while on my watch didn't you?" he teased watching her surrender to his touch, vaguely aware that as a human she was also fairly touch sensitive, always hugging or hitting depending on her mood, he just brushed the random thought aside.
"Well, barely"she scoffed but made her way to snuggle against his neck, just perfect to not obstruct his view on the book "Let's see what is all this fuss about, it can't be that good" he heard her mumble. Kakashi just shrugged and kept petting her back.
It was oddly relaxing, he sprawled in his couch, reading his favorite book, a kitten purring on top of him. He would usually had his hand down to idly scratch one of his ninken, yet this was different. It was still Sakura with him right now.
He could feel her gasp or stiff at certain parts of the book, his sensitive nose catching her distinctive smell of antiseptics and strawberries. A part of his brain claimed that he should we worried about how familiar he was with those particular traits of her, or how he didn't complain more earlier about being stuck with a cat transformed Sakura. But it seemed just natural, he spend great part of his time with her, and everyone in his team really, yet Sakura was the most present in his life, now that he thought about it.
She made sure he had food in his fridge, always checked on him after missions even if he wasn't notably injured, helped him with the menials paperwork of his unavoidable ascend as Hokage, because he hated that with a passion. She even had spare clothes in his closet and a mint colored toothbrush in his bathroom for Sages sake! He could had panicked in this moment, his creeping fear of closeness coming right to him. But suddenly he felt his chest rumble with the powerful steady sound of Sakura purring on him. He held a breath.
Kakashi didn't knew much about cats, but purring always mean happiness, closeness, feeling safe. And now adding that she was sleeping without a care in the world. She felt comfortable with him, she trusted him to keep her safe. That outweighed his fear in a second.
He absent-mindedly saw his summons appear, he heard Pakkun murmuring something that sounded awfully smug, but he was feeling rather drowsy to catch what was. He drifted to sleep thinking about pink, home and green eyes staring at him lovingly.