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A/N:Nieceyluvsfanfic suggested a team barbecue from Ninja and Bullet's POVs. This will have 2 chapters, one for Ninja (this one) and one for Bullet, probably up later today or tomorrow.
Ninja was in kitty heaven. Steve had invited everybody over for a barbecue—Kono, Lou, Chin, Danny, Grace, even Kamekona and Jerry. Danny had even brought his dog, Bullet. Ninja had pretended to be upset about that, stalking off and sticking his hind leg in the air, but when no one was looking, he'd gone over and touched noses with the German Shepherd and rubbed up against him. Danny had taken the same opportunity to scratch Ninja's ears. The three kept up the pretense of not liking each other, but they'd slowly developed a mutual fondness.
The only thing that bothered Ninja about Bullet being there was the dog got to go outside and he didn't. Ninja was jealous because he could smell meat cooking, and he just knew Bullet was getting tidbits and he wasn't.
That was okay. There was plenty of food in here. Ninja prowled the table, sniffing all the offerings. The vegetables he passed up, though he did lap a bit of ranch dressing. He stuck his nose into the pot of Lou's chili, but just the smell of the spices made him pull his head back and wrinkle his nose. The next offering was perfect, though—Kamekona's garlic shrimp. Ninja snagged a shrimp just as Steve came through the door.
"Ninja, off! Bad cat!"
Ninja leaped to the floor, still clutching his prize in his teeth. He took his time eating it, pretending he didn't notice or care that Steve was stalking towards him. "Ninja, leave it!" he said in the same tone Danny used to address Bullet when he wanted him to do something. Worked just about as well, too.
Kamekona came up behind Steve and chuckled. "Leave him be, brah. Cat's got good taste."
"Yeah, but he knows better than to get up on the table," Steve said. He addressed the cat. "Just for that, no scraps for you. Bullet can have them all."
Ninja was unconcerned. There were enough other people that he was sure he could talk somebody out of food. He wasn't ashamed to beg if it worked to his advantage. Kamekona especially was usually good for sneaking him food. In fact, the big man snuck Ninja another shrimp as he followed Steve back outside.
It started to rain, and the group came inside. Perfect. Now Ninja had plenty of opportunity to work the crowd. Unfortunately, Bullet came, too, which meant competition. That was okay. Ninja was sure he could outcharm the dog.
Danny left his plate on a chair and went to argue something with Steve. Ninja started moving towards the abandoned burger, but Bullet beat him to it, snagging it off the plate and gulping down half of it in one bite.
"Better watch your burger, Danny," Steve said, pointing at Danny's abandoned food. Danny turned around. "Bullet! Bad dog!" Bullet hastily gulped the rest of the burger and turned innocent eyes on Danny. "Don't give me that look. I saw you."
Steve chuckled. "At least you can't blame this one on Ninja. You caught Bullet red-handed. Or red-pawed."
Danny glared at him. "Like your cat is innocent. Weren't you the one complaining he got into the shrimp?"
Ninja lost interest in their bickering and surveyed the gathering, looking for a likely target. He settled on Kono. Approaching her, he sat next to her and let out his most pitiful meow. When that didn't work, he put his paw on her leg. "Ah, Ninja. Are you hungry?" Ninja meowed again. She broke off a bit of burger and fed it to him.
She wasn't subtle enough, however, and Steve caught her. "Are you feeding my cat from your plate?"
Kono gave him an innocent look that made Ninja proud. "No, of course not. Just petting him." Suiting action to words, she patted Ninja on the head, making him purr. As soon as Steve turned his back, she snuck him another piece.
Ninja continued making the rounds, getting more shrimp from Kamekona and even a bit of Danny's (new) burger. Satisfied, he curled up next to Bullet and fell asleep.
He awoke to find everyone gone and Steve cleaning up. Steve leaned down and scratched the cat affectionately. "Well, buddy, did you have a good time today?"
Ninja purred, then belched. Steve looked at him suspiciously. "Okay, who's been sneaking you food?"
Ninja started to protest, but belched again. "It was Kono, wasn't it?" Ninja belched again. "Am I going to have to listen to you belch all night?" Yet another belch. "That's it, no more people food for you."
Ninja didn't care. It was so totally worth it.