~~**~~Right, so here's a second Akatsuki story Nikkias and I did together. I started this one on my own, but when I read this first bit to her she fell in love and began contributing ideas, I just put them into words lol Even though it contains the same OCs, this story happens completely separate from "Akatsuki House of OC". And yes, the Akatsuki puppies are adorable, if I do say so myself. But, again with this story, we've abandoned it in pursuit of bigger and better things lol So, I'm only going back and editing what little I can without overhauling the entire story. Characters may be a little OC, some facts may be wrong, and so on and so on, but I had to leave alot of that to keep the original story in tact. And no, I don't own the Akatsuki or any related "Naruto" characters, their rightful owners and creators do. I'm just torturing them by putting them in silly settings XD~~**~~
"Unexpected Findings"
"So, I'm thinking we do yakisoba for dinner tonight." Hotaru turned and smiled at Nikoru who thought about it, then nodded her head with a beam.
"I think I can do that! What flavor do you want?" She readjusted the grocery bags in her hands and Hotaru shifted hers around too.
"I'm not really sure…I don't even know if I want yakisoba…What if we do okonomiaki?" She bit her lip and looked up at the winter sky, shivering a little and settling her lower face deeper into her thick scarf.
"No, no, that makes me think of summer. I don't want a summer food in the winter." Nikoru shook her head, the pom-pom on top of her snow cap bobbling around to reiterate her point.
"Alright…well, what about we go out and get ramen instead of cooking at all?" Hotaru laughed as Nikoru bounced around excitedly, almost spilling her groceries.
"That sounds fantastic! Always up for that!" She giggled as they got to their apartment and Hotaru opened the door with a full hand.
They put the groceries away and bundled up again, Hotaru making sure Nikoru covered her face well with her scarf and her hat was on tight enough. She couldn't have the girl getting sick. In all truth though the blonde was probably better suited to this weather with wind chakra coursing through her veins, a lot better than Hotaru and her fire chakra. "Alright, let's go. Maybe NaruNaru will be there." Hotaru opened the door and Nikoru smiled again, holding up pink gloved hands to catch at the snow that flurried in to greet them.
"We can't afford to feed him too tonight, though, Hotaru-chan. Groceries put us on a budget!" She smiled and took Hotaru's hand, making the brown haired girl nod her head and pull the petite blonde closer for warmth.
"I know, I know. I think we have enough to treat him to one bowl though…but, we don't even know if he's there or not." They both smiled and waved at Neji as he passed, carrying some firewood and a bag of groceries too. He nodded solemnly at them and kept going, barely passing them a glance. Everyone else had pretty much gotten off the streets for the night.
Just as they neared the ramen shop and the smell greeted their noses, Nikoru stopped dead in her tracks. Hotaru paused and glanced over her shoulder at her. "What is it, babe?" Nikoru held a hand up to her lips to silence her and Hotaru listened. That was when she heard it too. A puppy's yip. Hotaru began to glance around, worried that any animal out in this weather would die a horrible death.
"Where do you think it is? The poor thing!" Nikoru whimpered and bit at her gloved fingers, looking around quickly too. Hotaru pinpointed the sound and started towards the side of the building, but stopped when the tiny puppy came bouncing through the snow happily. "Awww, look, Hotaru-chan! It's so fuzzy and yellow!" Nikoru pointed to the puppy and it looked up at the sound, its floppy ears perking up quickly.
They all stared at each other for a moment before Nikoru leaned down and held out a hand, smiling. "Here, puppy…C'mere, boy…Who's a pretty puppy?" She cooed softly and the dog tilted its head, then yipped and bounced, then turned tail and ran back behind the ramen shop. Hotaru sighed and Nikoru got up, starting after it slowly, her boots crunching in the snow.
"Nik, I don't think it wants to go. Maybe it's owned by the ramen guy." Hotaru held out her hand, but her friend ignored her.
"Well, we should at least bring it back inside, we can't just leave it out here to freeze." And with that she slunk behind the building too. Hotaru shook her head and started after her, on quiet feet also.
'Hey! Hey, guys! Someone's coming, un!' The fuzzy blonde puppy ran as fast as his cold little feet could carry him. The safety of their box was calling out to him, but he could hear that human girl coming after him. 'Hide, un! Someone's coming!' A fuzzy red haired puppy stuck its head out from between the flaps of the box. It was tipped over on its side and there was soft yipping and rustling coming from inside it.
'Get in here then, brat! Told you it was too cold to go outside anyways.' The smaller dog barked lightly as the yellow one shoved past him and rolled into the box. The red head looked around with big brown eyes, then ducked back inside, just as the strangers came around the corner.
Nikoru stopped and saw the box, watching it jostle itself in the snow a little. Its corners were wet and soaked through and there was the little strip in between the closed flaps that let cold air inside. A light from a high back window in the ramen shop fell in slats over the little box and she smiled softly, glancing over her shoulder. "Hotaru-chan, I found the puppy! I think it lives in this little box!" She called out and Hotaru came around the corner, putting her hands on her hips as she looked at the box. They watched as the yellow puppy's head poked out of the box, then jerked back inside. The box got really still then, like it was hiding from them in plain sight.
Nikoru giggled and walked over, kneeling down beside the box and gently taking hold of the top flap, slowly peeling it back as Hotaru walked over to stand next to her. "It's okay, little guy. We're not going to hurt you. We just want to get you out of the cold." When she looked inside she gasped slightly, putting her free hand to her lips again. "Hotaru, it's a whole litter of puppies! The poor dears! Someone must've abandoned them!" Hotaru bent over, her hands now shoved deep into her pockets, and arched a brow as she peered into the box. Nine sets of multi-colored eyes stared back at her, furry little bodies shivering in the sudden cold.
"We can't keep them all…There's no way we can afford it." She shook her head, but Nikoru looked up at her with big eyes of her own.
"Oh, Hotaru, we can't just leave some of them and take some! We could at least keep them till we can adopt them all out." Hotaru thought about it, watched Nikoru give her the kicked puppy look, looked at all the sad and angry eyes staring at her from the box, then sighed heavily.
"Fine…Let's carry 'em home…I'll just make that yakisoba we mentioned earlier." Nikoru cheered and clapped, dropping the lid back down on the box, then gently turning it right side up. All the puppies inside jostled and shifted, rocking the box a little, all sorts of upset barks and scared yips coming from inside. She picked it up and smiled brightly.
"It's alright, guys, we're going somewhere really warm and comfy." She promised in a gentle voice and started towards home, Hotaru trudging behind.
It wasn't that Hotaru didn't like animals or feel bad for these. She did. She just didn't know how they were going to house nine puppies in their tiny little apartment, they could barely afford to feed each other as it was. They hadn't gotten so many missions lately, now that it was the winter time and coming closer and closer to Christmas. They probably would only get one or two between now and the beginning of next year. Which meant they were probably going to have to pick up part time jobs in between, which pissed her off; now they were certainly going to have to if they were going to feed their new family. She guessed it was alright though, she'd make signs and start putting them up tomorrow…hopefully the animals would be gone in a week or two.
When they got into the house Nikoru paused in the genkin, setting the box down on the raised flooring in front of her, so she could pull off her boots and put her coat and things in the closet next to her. Then she picked it up again and carried it into their tiny living room, sitting it down on the floor and sitting cross legged next to it. She was positively glowing she was so happy. Hotaru leaned against the wall as she unlaced her boots and watched her friend slowly peel back the box lids again. This time she leaned up a little and reached inside, pulling out the yellow puppy that had started this whole thing. It whined loudly as she gently lifted it into her lap and let go, stroking the top of its soft head.
"Don't worry, little guy! I'm not going to hurt any of you." She giggled again and reached inside the box once more, pulling out the red fuzzy puppy. It seemed a little calmer, but wriggled just a little in her grasp. As she put it on the floor it tumbled off her legs and began to sniff around, causing the yellow one to immediately start to wriggle and work its way out of her lap too. It ran for the red one, bumping into it from behind and falling on its butt. The red one turned around, shook its head, then started to sniff again, the yellow one now up and following it closely. Hotaru turned and put her coat and accessories in the closet, then turned back to look at her clean living room. Now there were eight puppies running around it.
There was a gray one, a black and white one, a chocolate brown one with black spots over its strange red and green eyes, an orange one with a black spot over its left eye, the yellow one, the red one, and one that was such an odd tint of gray it looked blue. They were all sniffing and running around, trying to figure out where to go and what to do and Nikoru was watching with clasped hands, beaming like a mother watching her children learn to walk. Hotaru walked over and looked inside the box, spotting a solid black puppy still lying in the corner.
"Why'd you leave this one behind?" She pointed to it and the dog looked up at her with red eyes. It seemed to be frowning deeply at her and looked very moody. She got the feeling she and this animal were NOT going to get along well.
"It wouldn't let me touch it. It growled every time I got near it, so I figured it'd come out when it wanted to." Nikoru shrugged and looked back at her lap as the orange one bounced over to her and began to nip playfully at her fingers. She giggled happily and picked it up, nuzzling noses with it, listening to it let out an excited squeal. Hotaru knelt by the box and continued staring at the moody dog, who stared right back at her. She reached a slow hand in, but the dog let out a low growl that vibrated its entire body. She smiled patiently and held the back of her hand out for it to sniff, which it did, but it snorted the smell out quickly, then turned and looked away.
She furrowed her brows again, "Alright, come on, dog. I want this box out of my living room, it's getting my floor wet." She reached for the animal, but it bared its teeth at her. She grabbed it by the throat and forced its head down to the bottom of the box, listening to it growl louder still. "You DON'T growl at me. I'M the dominant one here." She then grabbed it by the scruff of the neck and lifted it up, holding it in front of her face and staring it in the eyes again. It growled once more, but she let out her own growl, and pulled her lips back, showing him her teeth. It blinked, then huffed sulkily and looked away. She smiled and set it on the floor, patting its head patronizingly before it managed to slink off.
Hotaru turned and looked back at Nikoru, who was now petting the orange one and the bluish one. "I'll get started on dinner, make sure they don't pee on the floor. Why don't you lay some newspapers down for them till we can get leashes or something…we've gotta find a way to walk them." She took two steps and was standing at their stove, rising to her tip-toes to get something out of the pantry cabinet high above her. Nikoru nodded and got up, the two puppies following after her and nipping at her heels with playful yips. She was ecstatic.
'Foolish humans. She will learn the meaning of dominance.' The black puppy slunk over to the tiny love-seat and plopped down in front of it, making sure it had a clear shot for beneath the coffee table, just incase that stupid girl came over and tried to touch him again.
'It's not so bad…At least we're warm now.' He looked up with dull eyes, looking over the blue puppy as it came and sat beside him. The dog was huge and would be a giant of an animal when it got older.
'Yes, but we have to listen to them now. They think they're Leader now.' The black one settled its head on its paws with a heavy sigh.
'We do not care where we are...We're just hungry….' Its eyes lifted to watch the black and white puppy slink towards him beneath the coffee table, its teeth showing through the slow grin it was giving.
'Yeah, what do we do about food now? Will they feed us?' The other gray puppy wandered by, its head tilted as it curiously watched the blonde human lightly stomp her socked feet at the orange puppy, getting it riled up.
'Don't be stupid, of course they will.' The red puppy walked by also, the yellow one tailing behind it still, just like a little shadow.
'Do you mean we don't have to catch our own food, Sempai?' The yellow one yipped happily, pausing to wag its tail.
'What a hovel they're keeping us in...' The brown one shook its head and pawed the floor lightly.
'No, the humans will feed us now.' The black and white one smiled again, glancing over its shoulder at the brown haired girl who was starting make something on the stove.
'I am NOT a house pet.' The gray one grumbled, then stalked off in an angry manner, going to sulk in a corner that wasn't so crowded. The brown one decided to wander off with the gray one too, sitting next to it and chiding it for sulking.
'We'll be fine…Right, Sempai? They won't separate us, will they?' The blonde looked to the red, who shook its head in a doggy style shrug.
'That can't be foretold, brat.' It stated calmly and the yellow one laid down with its head beneath its paws, whimpering.
'I'm sure they won't. That would be stupid. They have enough room for all of us.' The blue one looked around with a satisfied look, figuring his answer was the best.
'He's right though, it can't be foretold. Humans don't think anything about separating pups.' The black one settled on that answer too, all the rest of them getting quite once more.
"I think my favorite one is the orange one, Hotaru." Nikoru grinned and carried the little orange puppy over under her arm. Hotaru glanced up from the food and glanced over the little dog.
"Wonder what's wrong with its eye…" She reached out and cupped the little animal's muzzle, gently running her thumb over the dog's eye. Its right eye was sealed closed, but there was no scarring to show that it had been made that way. Hotaru guessed it had been born with a bad eye. It shifted its head a little and it lifted a paw to her wrist, pawing at her till she pulled her hand away. It gave a happy little bark at her, its tail wagging against Nikoru's chest, and Hotaru shook her head with a small smile.
"I don't know, I was wondering that too…Do you think one of the others did it?" She looked back at the others that seemed to have gathered near the couch. Hotaru shrugged lightly, stirring the food on the stove.
"Maybe, maybe not. He seems to be fine though, no worries." She turned and started towards another cabinet, climbing onto the counter to reach the top shelf and get four bowls down. "I hope dogs can eat noodles." She figured they'd be fine for the night till they could get some dog food in the morning. She began spooning food into the bowls and Nikoru turned around, setting down the puppy and looking at the others.
"Can we name them?" She folded her arms over her chest, then took a bowl that Hotaru handed her.
"Nope, you'll get attached to them if you do." She carried two bowls over too, having handed Nikoru another bowl.
"Can we keep just one then?" She eyed the little orange one that was bouncing on top of the yellow one.
"I don't know, Nik, baby…We'll figure it all out later." Hotaru shook her head and sighed, kneeling down on the floor and setting the bowl down. "C'mon, guys, I've got some hot food for you." She held her bowl, waiting on the little animals to come over. They all sat up and looked over, but none of them moved from their spots. Finally the black one came over and started to sniff the bowl suspiciously. Hotaru lifted an eyebrow as she watched him turn his nose up at first. "Y'all eat this or starve." She commented and stood up, picking up her chopsticks and beginning to nibble at her own food.
Nikoru set the other bowl down, "There's another bowl over here, guys." The red one came over and sniffed that bowl. He slowly started to eat, the black one following suit at his own bowl. The blue one wandered over to the black one's bowl, then the black and white one, then the gray one. The orange one bounded over with the yellow one in tow, both getting shoved away from the black one's bowl so moving to the red one's, along with the brown one, who was the slowest to approach.
The girls stood and ate; watching to make sure all of them got enough food and didn't fight too much. When everyone was done eating Hotaru collected the bowls and started the sink up. Nikoru made sure there were enough newspapers put down and it was padded thick enough that it wouldn't go through to the flooring, then she sat down on the couch and pulled out a few scrolls and pins, beginning to read and take notes. She was trying to compose a book, and though it took up a lot of her free time, she seemed to be making a lot of progress on it. The puppies padded around and played with each other, still getting use to their new surroundings.
'She does seem to be the dominant one here.' The black one was sitting and studying Hotaru as she washed the dishes; oblivious to the puppies completely.
'She's human, you can't take her down; like this.' The blue one had walked over and was sitting next to the black one, towering over him.
'I'm not planning on that…' The black one muttered, turning and starting to walk towards the bedroom. The gray one ran over to them, skidding to a halt on the wood flooring and almost sliding into them.
'Never guess what I just found.' It grinned and the black one regarded it with bored eyes.
'Something REMOTELY interesting this time? Hopefully.' The blue one chuckled at the response and how the gray one's face fell.
'Of course it is! C'mere!' He turned and started to lead the way again, running into a corner in the bedroom. They followed after it to see the red one sitting in front of whatever they were supposed to see, like it was guarding the new found prize. The yellow one was bouncing around trying to get the red one's attention with a slew of questions about the prize, and the orange one had gotten on the bed and was looking down onto the picture with a wagging tail and happy barks.
'Found something good! Found something good! Not just girls after all!' The orange one cried out happily. The red one stepped aside to let the black one look at what it was. The closet had been left open and they were staring at something tossed on the floor of it. The black one raised its brows in some surprise.
'Weapon packs…Do you think they're ninjas?' The blue one tilted its head a little as it regarded the blue and black packs.
'Not good ones. Everyone knows women don't make good ninjas. Especially ones like these…They look like the LAST people in the world to be ninjas.' The red one commented and the yellow nodded quickly, its blue eyes sparkling wildly.
'Sempai's right! Women only get in the way on the battle field!' The orange one cackled along with the yellow one. The blue one got up and nosed the packs, pawing one open to reveal sharpened kunais. He stepped back to allow the black one to see what it had discovered.
'We may have to watch them.' It commented and the black one nodded.
'Come, they'll notice we're missing. Leave the weapons, for all we know they may only be something kept from a dead friend. For now we watch and wait.' It muttered and they all nodded, moving to explore the newest room some more.
Hotaru turned to look at Nikoru, yawning and stretching. "I'm going to bed, babe. My feet hurt bad and so does my head." She stood up off the couch and brushed her dress off. Nikoru nodded slowly, scribbling something down, then blinked and looked up at her, brushing hair out of her eyes.
"I'll be there in a minute. You know…we should probably get a house with two bedrooms." She giggled lightly, but knew that would never happen. They didn't like the idea of being separated…not after they spent so long apart. Hotaru walked into the bedroom and stretched again, finding that she almost tripped over three or four of the puppies.
"Seriously, guys? Seriously? Move." She nudged the blue one with her foot and he bumbled out of the way as she tugged her shirt off. She stripped down to her panties and climbed into her bed, snuggling in and smiling happily.
Nikoru eventually got up and put her work things away, walking into the bedroom and smiling at Hotaru's dozing form. She stripped down too, checked on the puppies, and gathered up the orange one. "Do you want to sleep with me, buddy?" The puppy licked her nose and wagged his tail, making her smile as she climbed under the covers. All the other puppies were running around still, but she left the sliding door open so they could get to their newspaper if they needed to. "Night, guys. We'll figure out where things are gonna go tomorrow." She yawned and settled in.
As the house got quiet, the puppies began to settle in, the sleeping forms of the female's lulling them into serene calm like they hadn't felt in a while. The orange one slept beneath Nikoru's arm all night long, kicking and rolling just as much as she did. The yellow one started to get sleepy first, so the red one jumped onto Nikoru's bed, padding around at the end of the bed till it managed to curl up. The yellow one smiled happily and flopped down on top of the red one basically and yawned. All of them settled in eventually and the house got as quiet as it normally was. The black one was the only one left sitting in the doorway and watching everyone sleep. The blue one lifted its head off its paws and looked down at the black one from the foot of Hotaru's bed. 'Not sleepy?' The black one shook its head in solemn response.
'I'm not getting attached to these humans. Especially THAT one. She's the one that wants to sell us.' He seemed a little miffed, but was as calm as normal.
'Might as well sleep somewhere comfortable while you can.' The blue one offered, settling its head back down. The black one shook its head again, stubbornly.
'I'm not doing it.' Then he settled down on the floor. It wasn't right, to take them in from their box and then split them up. It wasn't right at all. Matter of factly it was wrong, and he was going to bite the girls if they dared to touch them to separate them.